Cape Times 2021-10-25

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED Stadio Holdings is purchasing shares for its postgraduate class of 2021, making it South Africa’s first higher education institution to make students shareholders. Stadio chief academic officer Divya Singh said that for many students, the idea of investing on the JSE was something for “business people” and was a world beyond their reach. “Stadio is making this world accessible to its students and will also provide short-learning courses on the basics of investing, amongst other things, to further upskill our graduates,” Singh said. As part of the launch of the Stadio Khulisa Student Share Scheme, post graduate alumni were issued with shares worth R1 000 at Stadio graduation ceremonies last week, with around 1 200 Stadio postgraduate graduates receiving shares each year in future.…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za DRUG maker Aspen Pharmacare has sold six prescription medicines used for the treatment of gastroenterology, erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases to Swiss pharmaceutical company Acino Healthcare Group for R1.8 billion. Aspen, South Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, said on Friday proceeds from the transaction would be used to reduce debt. Chief executive Stephen Saad said the transaction formed part of the group’s communicated strategy to refine its product portfolio in South Africa. “The acquisition of these trusted brands in South Africa represents excellent scaling and commercial opportunities for Acino as it expands its footprint in South Africa by adding these products to its existing product portfolio.” Acino will acquire Trustan®, Altosec®, Zuvamor®, Ciavor®, Grantryl® and Aspen Granisetron® brands. It is anticipated that the transaction will completed by the…

Siphelele Dludla Siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za NETCARE has expressed concern about the possibility of the outbreak of a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections in South Africa after the private hospital group was battered by successive waves in the past year. Netcare on Friday said the Covid-19-related costs had continued to weigh on its margins for the year ended September 30, 2021, given the higher prices paid for personal protective equipment (PPE) due to global supply shortages and uncertain lead times. This was in addition to absorbing lower activity levels throughout the pandemic as Netcare had to temporarily suspend elective surgeries at the height of the second and third waves to deal with rising Covid-19 cases. Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, Netcare has treated 126 130 Covid-19 patients and…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED Rebosis Property Fund’s A and B shares leapt on Friday after it said it had entered into a sales deal with Ulricraft, a special purpose vehicle owned by Vunani Capital Partners (VCP), which could see the debt-heavy firm dispose of its commercial office portfolio for R6.32 billion. The company announced the deal in a late JSE Sens statement on Thursday as the markets closed. Rebosis B shares on Friday closed at 28c, 3.7 percent higher, after rising to an intraday high of 31 cents, nearly 14.8 percent up. Rebosis A shares on Friday closed at 95c, closing 18.75 percent higher after leaping to an intraday high of 119c, nearly 49 percent higher. Rebosis founder and chief executive Dr Sisa Ngebulana…

A CULTURE of reporting on statistics outside the statistics produced by the Statistician-General and rules of its governance is now emerging in South Africa. While this may be done provided the Statistician-General has issued a quality assessment approval on methods, South Africa will soon be on a slippery road. Let me explain why and give a bit of background history. Mark Twain attributes the phrase lies, damn lies and statistics to the 19th century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. With rising unemployment after rampant privatisation, which included the sale of social housing and state assets, among glaring consequences that former PM Margaret Thatcher faced, was soaring unemployment. The National Statistics Office (NSO) of the UK was always the suspect in the eyes of the politician and this included scrutiny of…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za ASCENDIS Health on Friday announced that Mark Sardi had resigned as chief executive of the South African health and well-being company with effect from December 31, in the wake of getting shareholder approval for the group’s recapitalisation. Earlier this month shareholders in favour of the recapitalisation of Ascendis Health, which aims to settle outstanding debt of approximately €444 million (more than R7.66 billion) owed to senior lenders. The firm said Sardi had joined the company in October 2019 with a mandate to turn Ascendis Health around operationally and fix the balance sheet. In his two years with the group the leverage had been reduced by R7.5bn in a debt for assets swop, in a highly complex and unusual transaction in the South African listed sector.…