Cape Times CT-2021-04-12

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za RMB HOLDINGS (RMH) share price rose by more than 23 percent on the JSE on Friday morning after the investment holding company declared a special dividend of R1.13 billion out of income reserves. The special dividend of 80 cents a share comes after the group said the development of a new hub for business, entertainment, retail and residential living in Bucharest (Bucharest development) were not met by the long stop date of March 31. “As such, the RMB board will be returning the capital committed to Atterbury Europe and the Iulius Group, earmarked for the Bucharest development to shareholders as a special dividend,” the group said. However, it added the special divi- dend would be subject to dividend withholding tax at a rate of…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za PHUMELELA Gaming and Leisure is set to lose one of its prized assets, the Arlington racecourse in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, when it is put up for auction on April 23. It will be the country’s first horse racing track to go under the auctioneer’s hammer. The 62-hectare property in Walmer has been described by Broll Auctions as the developer’s dream as it is the last large piece of land within the hub of the main city, less than 10 minutes from the airport, and making it ideal for residential estate development or an industrial park. The expected auction of the Arlington racecourse comes after South Africa’s largest horse racing and tote betting operator was placed under business rescue on May 8 last year…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za PURPLE Group’s profit soared to R15.2 million in the six months to February 28 compared with R900 000 in the same period last year after a near tripling of the EasyEquities online share trading business. Group revenue increased by 79.5 percent to R100.6m. Attributable profit increased 884.1 percent to R8.3m compared to a profit of R0.8m in the comparative period, the results released Friday showed. Basic and headline earnings per share increased to 0.85 cents a share compared to 0.09c per share in the prior comparative period. EasyEquities revenue increased by 197.6 percent to R85m and its taxed profit increased to R22.3m compared to R0.08m in the comparative period. Platform assets increased by 70.3 percent to R26.9bn and funded retail investment accounts…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za EXXARO Resources, Eskom’s biggest coal supplier, has become the latest company to offload thermal coal assets as pressure mounts for mining houses to reduce exposure to fossil fuels amid climate change concerns. Exxaro on Friday announced the sale of its Exxaro Coal Central (ECC) to black-owned and private mining operator Overlooked, without disclosing the value of the transaction. Exxaro said the sale was part of playing a meaningful role in helping black mining operators obtain scale and additional resources. “ECC’s successful sale to a black-owned mining operator with a strong track record such as Overlooked, has confirmed Exxaro’s strategic view that the assets have value and that a different operator is better placed to extract maximum value from these assets,” said Exxaro. Exxaro’s disinvestment in ECC, the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za DISINVESTMENT in coal assets by two major firms this week was not a threat to power generation in South Africa and coal would be in the mix for the foreseeable future, analysts said last week. They said the the move away from thermal coal was simply a climate change-forced decision and a gradual transition which recognised the country’s decarbonisation commitments as per Paris Accord. The country was crafting a pathway to a transition to renewable energy by 2030. Last week, two major developments occurred in the space of coal mining in South Africa. Anglo American plc announced plans to spin off its thermal coal opera- tions to Thungela Resources following years of pursuing a responsible transition away from fossil fuels. Anglo said that the demerger…

Lisa Pines THE STRONG consensus of opinion in the scientific community is that the climate is changing, and global tempera- tures are rising. Though individual weather events cannot be attributed directly to climate change, the overall trends point to an increase in global temperatures and extreme weather events. Climate change has already caused the earth’s temperature to rise by more than 1 degree above pre-industrial levels. There is clear evidence that climate change is causing more frequent severe weather events, from floods to fires to droughts, leading to higher and more volatile weather-related insurance claims. We’ve had more frequent floods and fires, especially in the last 10 years, with the Knysna fires in 2017 being our worst ever weather catastrophe, as well as several floods and hailstorms over the…