Cape Times 2021-05-04

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za ITALTILE yesterday announced the retirement of chief executive Jan Potgieter at the end of December, saying he was emigrating to Europe. Potgieter has served Italtile, whose retail brands include CTM, Italtile Retail, Top T and U-Light, for eight years, first as chief operating officer in 2014 and subsequently as chief executive from 2016. Italtile named Lance Foxcroft, the chief executive of Italtile subsidiary, Ceramic Industries, as Potgieter’s successor with effect from January 1, next year. It said Potgieter would remain on the board as a non-executive director. “Lance’s appointment formalises the group’s succession plan, developed over the past five years. “He has worked closely with Jan over the past four years since Italtile acquired Ceramic in 2017, and the handover period will ensure a seamless transition…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STARBUCKS South Africa, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of operating in this country, said yesterday it had put the challenges it had experienced in the past few years behind it and was looking to expand its footprint by opening more stores. Adrian Maizey, the chief executive of Rand Capital Coffee and the licensee of Starbucks SA, said the firm had increased its store franchisees in the country to 25 from 16 after acquiring the licence from Luxe Holdings, previously known as Taste Holdings, about 15 months ago. “We see ourselves as building the brand from scratch in the country that is well aligned with any start-up business. “We are fortunate that we have a brand that has done well in over five decades across the globe,…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za THE AUTOMOTIVE Business Council (TABC) yesterday flagged the sector was facing Covid-19-induced manufacturing supply chain disruptions as it reported vehicle sales fell 17.6 percent last month, to 35 779 units, compared with the number sold in March. Year-on-year comparisons of vehicle sales were not meaningful, as last April was the height of the Covid-19 restrictions and only 574 vehicles were sold that month. April’s export sales fell by 12 619 units, or 32.2 percent, to 26 522 units compared with March. TABC chief executive Mike Mabasa said public holidays affected new vehicle sales and export performance in April compared to March. However, in the first four months of this year, the new vehicle market was 28.3 percent above the same period…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za The RAND clawed back some losses yesterday after weakening to a two-week low as optimism around vaccine deliveries offset traders’ concerns while data showed the manufacturing sector in South Africa experienced slowing growth in production in April. After starting the trade at R14.50 to the dollar, the rand rose 0.11 percent to R14.39 against the greenback at 5pm. On Sunday, South Africa received its first batch of Pfizer vaccines consisting of 325 000 doses. More shipments are expected in the coming weeks to make a total of 1.3 million by the end of the month and 4.5 million by June. TreasuryONE’s currency specialist Andre Cilliers said the rand had pared gains on Friday due to the US dollar rallying back following better-than-expected growth numbers. Cilliers said the…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za PPC HAS SOLD its PPC Lime operation as part of a restructuring project to Kgatelopele Lime, a new company that has Swiss mining and minerals resources group IMR Group as a major shareholder, for R515 million. PPC plans to use the net proceeds of R500m to degear PPC’s South African balance sheet. In terms of the restructuring project, PPC’s South African lenders agreed to review the need for a R750m group capital raise if the South African businesses continue to degear towards sustainable debt levels. PPC’s share price gained 3.7 percent to R3.10 yesterday morning. The share has risen steadily from a 12-month low of 43 cents early in November, after the group in the meantime reported relatively robust double-digit cement product sales. Kgatelopele Lime…

ATTACQ, the real estate investment trust (Reit) that holds Mall of Africa and Waterfall City among its assets, said the easing of lockdown restrictions from March 1 had resulted in a marked improvement in trading density growth at its retail centres. All its tenants were able to trade with minimal restrictions, the group said yesterday in an update of its retail portfolio's trading performance, and progress made to improve its capital structure. At Mall of Africa, trading density improved 33 percent versus March 2020, compared with a 0.8 percent decline recorded in February over the same month a year before, and a 14.1 percent decline in January on the same basis. Brooklyn Mall saw trading density up 7 percent on the same basis, compared with a…