Cape Times 2023-07-24

Sugar producer says negotiations with Tanzania sugar firm are at an advanced stage TONGAAT Hulett, southern Africa’s biggest sugar producer which is in business rescue, said Friday shareholders would vote on bringing a “strategic equity partner” (SEP) into the group, Kagera Sugar. The group’s business rescue practitioners (BRP’s) had advised on March 31 already that negotiations were underway for an equity partner. Although the percentage shareholding of Kagera was not disclosed, strategic equity shareholders usually take anything up to a 50% stake of the shares in a company. Tongaat said on Friday the potential deal also comprised the acquisition of Tongaat’s sugar division in South Africa, in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana. Kagera Sugar is a sugar manufacturing company situated in Kagera, in the north-west of Tanzania. It is part of…

Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa remains deeply concerned about the prolonged delays to return the 920MW Unit 1 at Koeberg Nuclear power station due to inexplicable challenges on the back of deteriorating electricity generation capacity. A frustrated Ramokgopa yesterday said he visited Koerberg on Thursday to get the update on the state of affairs at Africa’s only nuclear power station, and he was not impressed at all. In December 2022, Eskom belatedly took off-line Unit 1 Koeberg for at least six months to replace three steam generators in a bid to extend the life of the power station for an additional 20 years at an estimated cost of R20 billion. Unit 2 which continues to operate safely while Unit 1 is in this extended outage, will undergo a similar…

Power utility Eskom has confirmed it will overshoot its Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) budget on diesel for its turbines and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) with likely recriminations from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). Harsh winter with incidents of snowfall and frequent breakdowns in the coal fired power plants has forced Eskom’s hand to lean heavily on the use of its OCGTs to keep the lights on, albeit with high levels of load shedding. When questioned whether Eskom was still within the NERSA proscribed use of OCGTs, Eskom said: “No, the OCGT usage is exceeding and will exceed the NERSA proscribed use of OCGTS.” Given the cold fronts and subsequent higher demand, has forced Eskom to utilise more of its OCGTs to bridge the generation gap.…

VODACOM Group said on Friday that despite the ongoing uncertainty impacting global markets and economies its revenue increased by 36.9%. In its trading statement for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, the mobile operator said group revenue increased 36.9% to R35.7 billion, posi- tively impacted by the acquisition of Vodafone Egypt and rand depreciation against its basket of international currencies. Vodacom reported that group service revenue was up 43.8%, or 9.8%, excluding Vodafone Egypt. South Africa service revenue grew 3.9%, underpinned by the contract segment, fixed and financial services. “International service revenue increased 23.8%, driven by data revenue growth and a weaker rand. Vodafone Egypt grew service revenue by 27.6% in local currency, as financial services revenue more than doubled. Group service revenue growth including Vodafone Egypt on a…

MR PRICE flagged a growth in retail sales on the back of a strong performance by the recently acquired Studio 88 (S88). Mr Price acquired Studio 88, a retailer of branded leisure, lifestyle, and sporting apparel and footwear in October in a R3.6 billion deal. In its trading update for the 13 weeks ended July 1, 2023, the group said on Friday that it recorded growth in retail sales and other income of 21.4% to R8.4bn. The retailer said soft retail demand experienced by the sector during the second half of the 2023 financial year had continued into the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, aggravated by the highest levels of load shedding in the calendar year recor- ded in April and May 2023. “Consum- ers continued to…

Pick n Pay’s Zimbabwean partner, boosted by firming sales volumes in the TM Pick n Pay chain and the ability to internally fund a store expansion programme, has declared a final dividend of $0.80 (R14.38) per share, bringing up the total shareholder payout for its 2023 full year to $1.65. Despite rampaging inflation, higher interest rates and other economic headwinds, Pick n Pay’s operations in Zimbabwe are proving resilient. Pick n Pay competes against ZSE listed OK Zimbabwe, Choppies and Spar outlets in addition to smaller indigenous players and informal retailers mainly trading in foreign currency. The South African grocer, and its Zimbabwean partner, the ZSE-listed Meikles Limited, have been using internally generated finances to rapidly expand the retail chain, bumping up…