THE surge in UK property giant Liberty International’s share price (both in SA and the UK) since the beginning of May has caught the market by surprise, especially as latest indications are that the UK spending boom is slowing.

TURNER and Townsend, a global player in construction and management consulting with a strong presence in South Africa, has won Britain's Queen's Award for Enterprise in its international division.

The award recognises exceptional high standards of service in every country in which it has a presence. Group chairman Tim Wray said:

"This award recognises the skills and dedication of all our staff worldwide. It is a wonderful achievement and everybody at Turner and Townsend can take pride in it.

"The foundations we have laid within the group as a whole have given us the skills and confidence to take on new challenges and new markets all over the world."

For Wray, the Queen's Award was especially significant, since he was instrumental in starting the group's international operations 21 years ago with the first office in South Africa.

Other branches followed, in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Now with 36 offices, the majority outside the traditional UK base, the overseas staff numbers have risen from 191 to 367, while turnover figures have soared by more than 100%, doubling the international division's turnover and profit.

Southern Africa remains the group's biggest base outside the UK. The company tackles projects on any scale from domestic housing up to large-scale developments, such as the domestic terminal at Johannesburg International Airport.

Other large projects carried out is the Cape Town Convention Centre, which was secured against stiff international competition, as was the case for the De Beers head office in Johannesburg, due to be opened next month.

The Sonnenberg Hoffman and Galombik House office development on the Foreshore is due for completion in October 2004, and is the biggest office development undertaken in the CBD in many years. Ian Donaldson, Partner in Turner and Townsend Africa, said:

"The company has invested in its staff over a long period and has built up a strong skills base, with expertise that enables the African operation to compete strongly in the global market and provides the capability to undertake projects internationally.

Our South African business continues to grow steadily on the back of a diversified approach, with an ever-increasing number of blue-chip clients."

Leisure and entertainment group Kersaf Investments, which holds stakes in Sun International SA (Sisa), City Lodge Hotels and Ster Century Europe and Middle East, has raised its effective stake in Sisa to 62,2% from 43,6% at a cost of R547m in a further step towards simplifying its structure and enhancing its underlying value.

Amid choppy seas, the sector offers relative security, writes John Sukazi

COROVEST Capital Property Investment has entered the UK retail property market, buying 20% equity in a £241m fund that holds four UK subregional shopping centres.

THE property syndication industry has been brought to a standstill largely as a result of a lack of liquidity, says Mike Flax, MD of Spearhead Property Holdings.

Members of the building industry are reeling from the shock of a proposed 20% hike in the price of cement. This follows a double digit price rise in the past year.

The proposed price rise is likely to lead to a substantial increase in building costs. Stellenbosch University's Bureau for Economic Research (BER) warned yesterday that, together with higher interest rates, a weighty rise in the price of cement would contribute to building work being less affordable and would lead to a slowdown in demand.

Ultimately, this will have a negative effect on the economy.

Cement producers PPC, Alpha and Lafarge would not comment on what their price hikes would be yesterday. However, a number of concrete product manufacturers have said that PPC, for one, had indicated a 20% price rise in January.

The rise would not be applicable to all clients, because prices vary between clients and cement product types, but double-digit rises were expected all round.

The BER's Charles Martin said cement sales were on the rise for the first time in years, and that now would be considered an ideal time for cement producers to introduce substantial price hikes.

PPC and Alpha said their price hikes were based mainly on increases in their input costs, which were affected by the depreciation of the rand. Capital equipment and spares, for instance, were sourced mostly from the US and Europe.

PPC also fingered Spoornet's prices and inefficiency as contributing factors to rising cement prices. Colin Jones of PPC said problems with rail availability had forced the cement producer to switch to more expensive road transport in some instances.

PPC and Alpha said price shifts were not based on attempts to come in line with international pricing or to move towards import parity pricing.

Lafarge declined to comment on price strategy issues.

The cement buyers said the reasons given for the increases were reasonable, but 20% was beyond what could be justified.

Several cement buyers have also accused producers of continuing to operate in a cartellike fashion. PPC, Alpha and Blue Circle operated as a cartel until 1996, when it was officially disbanded. A price war ensued in an attempt by the producers to secure market share.

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