Cape Times 2024-01-19

JSE-LISTED cement manufacturer PPC has reorganised its executive committee, instituting appointments to new roles such as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer as the company guns for an uplift in profitability for its South African business. In December, PPC appointed Matias Cardarelli as the new CEO. He took over from Roland van Wijnen against the backdrop of an 8 cents loss in headline earnings per share for the full year to June 2023, that had widened from the previous year’s loss of 3c. Now, PPC says it has restructured the executive committee to enhance its profitability prospects amid projected low demand for cement in the South Africa market. “The board of directors has approved a substantially reorganised and strengthened executive committee in order to drive improved profitability and…

MOTUS is expecting a 20% to 30% decrease in headline earnings per share for the interim period to the end of December 2023. Motus, the South African-diversi- fied but non-manufacturing automobile company, expects interim 630 cents and 720c, per share. Its shares traded 2.15% weak in morning trade on the JSE yesterday, but are marginally higher by 0.69% in the year-to-date comparative. The expected plunge in interim headline earnings coincides with a “tough” trading environment “marked by continuous power outages, high interest rates fuel prices and energy costs”, it said. “As a result of these factors, consumers are experiencing considerable strain on their disposable income. The higher- than-normal vehicle and parts price inflation, exacerbated by the impact of the weak rand, has negatively impacted affordability,” Motus said in a…

CHIEF financial officer Rob Aitken would take over as interim CEO from Dan Marokane from March 1, 2024, Tongaat Hulett’s board said yesterday. The appointment comes after it was announced last week that Tongaat Hulett’s lenders had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Vision Consortium’s bid to take southern Africa’s biggest sugar producer out of business rescue, ending a period of uncertainty for the more than 100-year-old company and its employees. Tongaat Hulett was placed in business rescue in October 2022 when it emerged that key former executives had allegedly manipulated accounts for years, and after new management failed to right the group after difficulties experienced through the Covid pandemic. The company said yesterday, “As announced on December 8, 2023, Dan was appointed as the new CEO of Eskom. In…

SOUTH African businesses are optimistic about trade conditions in the next six months and hiring more employees, in spite of weak sentiment at the end of 2023. The latest survey by the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) on trade conditions indicated a slight improvement in the trading climate for November and December 2023, though respondents generally still perceived the conditions as fragile. Sacci yesterday said that 38% of businesses surveyed expressed positivity about the conditions in December, and 43% anticipated improvements in the next six months. Seasonally adjusted expectations saw a minor decline from 51% in October to 50% in December. However, 64% of businesses viewed trade conditions in December 2023 as worse than in December 2022, as the majority of reported lower sales volumes. Sacci economist…

The AfCFTA Secretariat and the WEF yesterday unveiled the first-ever AfCFTA Action Plan FINANCE Minister Enoch Godon- gwana has vowed that South Africa will champion the basic tenets of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within the expanded BRICS group of emerging countries. The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union and eight Regional Economic Communities to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of approximately $3.4 trillion (R64.75trln). The AfCFTA Secretariat and the WEF yesterday unveiled the first-ever AfCFTA Private Sector Action Plan which brings together 12 industry giants, committing to transformative projects across automotive, agriculture and agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and logistics and transport sectors.…

A SIZEABLE number of SABC viewers who watched their programmes on the OpenView platform were excluded from watching the Rugby World Cup 2023 final due to MultiChoice’s market dominance and its decision to block OpenView from broadcasting it. This was the argument presented yesterday to the Competition Tribunal by eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView. As a result of this event, and looming changes in the market with the switch from analogue public broadcasting to digital expected this year, Hosken Consolidated Investments subsidiary eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView, went to competition authorities to seek relief against DStv operator MultiChoice SA Holdings, and the SABC. As with 90% of all major sport events, MultiChoice had acquired the pay-to-air and free-to-air television rights for the matches, and it sub-licensed the major games to…