Cape Times 2021-08-12

Denel plans to restructure as it inches close to coughing Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za TROUBLED state arms manufacturer Denel is inching closer to paying its debtors and staff through the sale of non-core assets as it yesterday announced a far-reaching restructuring plan with an eye on returning to profit. In a statement, Denel said that with streamlining and a refocus, it would return to profitability within the next five years. Acting chief executive William Hlakoane said: “We are determined to turn Denel around and repurpose it while retaining the core capabilities required to meet South Africa’s strategic security requirements,” as he outlined that the revitalisation plan including reducing Denel’s current operating divisions, plus one subsidiary, from six to two. One division would focus on engineering, while the other would focus on…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za Another showdown between the government and public sector unions is looming over the exclusion of public servants from early access to a portion of their retirement funds. The government announced yesterday that it would allow financially-struggling workers to dip into their pension funds from next year in a bid to mitigate against the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on household incomes. However, public servants whose savings are under the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) will be excluded from the withdrawal process. The National Treasury yesterday gave more details about the approach and planned timelines concerning the proposal to allow for pre-retirement withdrawals from the retirement funds. Treasury said any consideration for early access would require legislative and fund-rule amendments as the current law and policy prohibits any…

Applications open for government civil unrest funding support Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za COMPANIES can start applying for funding under the R3.75 billion economic recovery package aimed at supporting the restoration of businesses adversely affected by the civil unrest in July. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) announced yesterday that the economic recovery support interventions were open for affected businesses to apply. The R3.75bn package is for businesses adversely affected during the violent looting and unrest that took place in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last month. At least 161 shopping malls, 11 warehouses and eight factories were looted and vandalised, leaving R50bn damage that severely affected the supply-chain of goods and economic activity. The current estimated cost of damage to property and equipment in eThekwini alone is R15bn, constituting about…

Steinhoff surges on JSE after offering to pay out extra R3 billion Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International Holdings’s shares leapt by a whopping 30 percent on the JSE yesterday as subsidiary and global furniture retailer, Steinhoff International Holdings Limited (SIHL), proposed making an additional R3 billion payment for investors who suffered losses due to its accounting scandal of 2017. The share closed the day 23.21 percent higher at R2.07. Steinhoff International, which has faced numerous claims in South Africa and Europe after admitting to “cooking the books” in 2017, said the proposed additional payment had received the green light from active claimant group, Hamilton. “Steinhoff has received confirmation that the active claimant group, Hamilton, supports in principle the Steinhoff global settlement based on this increased contribution…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za BUSINESS confidence in South Africa fell to a 9-month low in July after civil unrest plunged the country into a week-long disruption of supply chains and violence. The SA Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Sacci) said yesterday that the business confidence index (BCI) declined to 93.2 points in July, from 96.2 points in June. This BCI print was the lowest reading since last October, and pulled away from a more than three-year high of 97 points recorded in May, reflecting the negative impact of the unrest. Since the Sacci BCI bottomed in May 2020 at the height of Covid-19 pandemic, it improved up to May 2021, pulled back slightly in June and was marginally down in July. Sacci, however, said the recent month-on-month dip…

Quilter delivers interim dividend hike, cautions on market outlook Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za QUILTER, the UK wealth manager, posted a robust performance for the six months ended June 30, that saw it deliver an increased dividend to shareholders. But it raised a red flag on expectations of further substantial near-term market appreciation, due to uncertainty over heightened US-China tensions, coupled with concerns over the direction of inflation and interest rates. Quilter, once part of Old Mutual, announced a hike in its interim divi- dend of 1.7 pence (R0.35) a share from 1p, which it said represented a pay-out in upper end of a 40 to 60 percent range. In February, the firm completed the migration of its assets, clients and advisers on to a new UK platform technology. Quilter…