Cape Times 2021-10-28

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has taken a hard line against Eskom’s poor electricity supply, instructing the board to beef up the power utility with requisite expertise to deal with generation capacity. This as analysts said yesterday economic growth for the fourth quarter could turn for the worse if the country’s energy supply continues to fail to meet demand after Eskom temporarily shut down units at two power stations. In a tense media briefing yesterday evening, Gordhan said skills were needed at Eskom and must be acquired a lot quicker to help with the deterioration in generation units. Gordhan said the necessary exemptions will be made by the National Treasury for Eskom to find the right expertise to assist. “It’s clear within Eskom itself that further expertise…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za CELL C, South Africa’s fourth biggest telecommunication company, yesterday said it had grown subscribers and returned to profitability during the half-year ended June 2021 with a R148 million profit before tax marking a turnaround from the R7.6bn loss reported year-on-year. Chief executive Douglas Craigie Stevenson said the group’s financial performance had improved and it was making good progress on the three-year transition to a virtual RAN (Radio Access Network), the implementation of its new business model and the introduction of new products to market. He said Cell C had successfully migrated 40 percent of the network, with access to 7 500 towers of which 95 percent were 4G/LTE enabled. He said Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape and Limpopo had been fully migrated.…

RBPlat’s market capitalisation has grown by more than 200% up to June Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za Shares in Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat), the mid-tier platinum group metals (PGM) producer sky rocketed by nearly 24 percent on the JSE yesterday following Impala Platinum’s (Implats) proposed buyout of the company's issued entire share capital. Should the transaction receive the green light from regulatory bodies, and shareholders it will create a significant PGM producer in South Africa and will see the delisting of RBPlat, which is valued at R27 billion and led by chief executive Steve Phiri. RBPlat’s market capitalisation grew by more than 200 percent in the period ended June 2021 due to the high metal prices, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Mine Report. In a joint statement the companies…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED Aspen, the pharmaceutical company, said yesterday that deferred bonus shares worth millions of rand, awarded in 2018 in respect of the Aspen South African Management Deferred Incentive Scheme, had vested and would be awarded to its top executives. In the top money seat was founder and chief executive Stephen Saad, who would get shares valued at just more than R4 million, while Michael Attridge, co-founder and deputy chief executive, would get R3.3m. Company secretary Riaan Verster would get R830 453 and chief financial officer Sean Capazorio R1.9m. Chief operating officer Lorraine Hill was in line for R2.75m, while group corporate services officer Reginald Haman would get R1.57m and chief strategic development officer Zizipho Mmango R1.69m. The shares had not yet been delivered due to…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za FAMOUS Brands, the owner of Wimpy, Debonairs Pizza and Steers, anticipates some food inflation in the second half of the year as it recorded a pick-up in sales during the half-year ended August 2021. The group said yesterday that the inflation was driven by dry goods, perishables and packaging as it posted improved sales during the half-year ended August 2021. “Expected brand weakness will amplify inflation,” said Famous Brands. Financial highlights included higher sales across its leading and signature brands, with combined like-for-like sales increasing by 75.6 percent. Revenue recovered to R3 billion representing a 50 percent jump compared to a year ago, while operating profit was up by 302 percent to R222 million. The group said despite the weak economy, it…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za IRONGATE Group, formerly Investec Australia Property Fund (IAP), yesterday rejected an A$1.1 billion (R12.18bn) takeover offer from fund manager 360 Capital Group, saying the offer did not “reflect the underlying value of IAP having regard to its high-quality office and industrial real estate portfolio”. On October 16, the group had received a “highly conditional” and “unsolicited” offer, which IAP’s board previously warned might make a pre- datory offer. The offer was for all shares in Irongate that 360 Capital did not already own for A$1.6047 cash per security, which was made up of a headline price of A$1.65 less the anticipated distribution of A$0.0453 per IAP security for the half-year to September 30. The proposal was conditional on ESR Real Estate (Australia) entering into an…