Cape Times 2021-06-22

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za DENEL has told its staff it would be unable once again to pay their salaries, this time for June, as its liquidity position remained dire on competing priorities and declining sales. The state-owned arms manufacturer told its workers last weekend that it did not have sufficient cash with various plans that had been undertaken slowly taking shape but yet to improve sales and the cash inflows. It said it anticipated positive results in the next three to six months. ”However, at this stage, we do not have sufficient cash in our coffers and we do not foresee being able to honour our financial obligations for the month of June,“ Denel said. ”Unfortunately, this includes employee salaries, related statutory and third party payments.” Various divisions of the SOE…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za PROSUS NV said yesterday that the valuation of its e-commerce portfolio had doubled to $39 billion (about R555bn)during the year ended in March compared to a year earlier, as the group recorded bumper operating profit and revenues soared. Prosus, one of the world’s largest consumer stocks, generated group revenues of $28.8bn, 33 percent higher than a year earlier. Trading profit soared to $5.6bn, 44 percent higher than the prior year on strong returns from its e-commerce business and Chinese software giant, Tencent. Tencent’s contribution to the group’s trading profit improved 29 percent. “For the first time, we are confirming an independent valuation of our e-commerce portfolio of $39bn. This is almost double the valuation of a year ago and it has delivered an…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NASPERS’S European-listed spin-off, Prosus, hiked the base salaries of executive directors, chief executive Bob van Dijk and chief financial officer Basil Sgourdos for the 2022 financial year after the group recorded strong results in the year to the end of March, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The group said in its annual report yesterday the executive directors had received a 5 percent increase in their base salary, effective from April 1. It said Van Dijk’s total pay for the 2022 financial year increased to $16.838 million (R240m), including a $1.521m base salary. Sgourdos’ total pay for 2022 was $10.61m (R151m), including a $1.2m base salary. The group said it took prudent executive remuneration decisions as a result of Covid-19, with executive directors not receiving a pay increase for…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s vaccine roll-out programme yesterday received a boost as the country moved to take control of the local production of Covid-19 vaccines. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country would establish the first messenger RNA (mRNA) technology transfer hub for Covid-19 vaccines. Ramaphosa said the hub would be established in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government of France. mRNA vaccines represent a promising alternative to conventional vaccine because of their high potency, their capacity for rapid development, and their potential for low-cost manufacture and safe administration. However, the local technology hub could take up to nine months before it could produce its first doses of the life-saving vaccines. Ramaphosa said the ability to manufacture vaccines, medicines and other health-related commodities would help…

THE RECENT listing of SAB Zenzele Kabili was an outstanding success, but be aware of the potholes and cliffs. The market in JSE-listed black economic empowerment (BEE) shares is very illiquid, as only black South Africans are eligible to hold them. Over the past year, the average monthly volume in BEE-Sasol was about 7 000 shares, while MTN Zakhele Futhi averaged about 111 000 shares, and YeboYethu 57 000 shares. In all three cases, the average monthly volume was a mere 0.1 percent of the respective shares in issue. The weak liquidity in listed BEE shares can expose new and current investors to unwarranted risk through possible market manipulation and market intervention by the parent companies. The unwinding of Sasol Inzalo, Sasol’s initial BEE, and the…

FOR THOSE who do not know, decades of apartheid and racial capitalism effectively disempowered the majority of black people politically, socially and economically. Economic exclusion was coupled with an inadequate education system and lack of opportunities. The restructuring of the economy would be incomplete if it did not succeed in rectifying this. As such, the government adopted the broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) programme to create an inclusive economy that would meet the needs of all citizens, primarily black people who largely remain outside of the mainstream economy. The advent of B-BBEE came at a time when globalisation was at an advanced stage, which made it difficult successfully to redress the imbalances of the past. One has to admit that in this quest the government has not given enough attention…