Pretoria News 2022-04-21

ESKOM yesterday painted a gloomy picture of the country’s energy stability ahead of winter, but strenuously dismissed energy analysts’ concerns of a total system collapse. In a state of the system briefing, Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter said Eskom had a 50 Hertz buffer that was safeguarded by safety measures, which gave the utility “headroom of up to stage 8 load-shedding”. Power systems operate at a specific frequency. This protects the national grid against total collapse, which, if it happened, would plunge the whole country into darkness for a week at least. “We have never had that possibility in South Africa, perhaps we would have to look further afield for the experience of what a blackout is like. There is an incident in New York in 1978 and…

ANGLO American chief executive Mark Cutifani stepped down from the helm after a nine-year tenure at the world’s largest mining firm. In his swan song, he said leading the company had been “quite a ride”. Under Cutifani’s leadership, Anglo American share price has risen from R223 a share when he joined the company in April 2013 to R800 in intrady trade yesterday. During the group’s 2022 annual general meeting (AGM) held on Tuesday, and outlined in a statement yesterday, Cutifani said it had been a great privilege to lead the company for nine years. “I am grateful to have had the unwavering support of Stuart (Chambers, the chairperson of Anglo American) and the board for what I and your management team have been seeking to accomplish. “I also wish…

THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) could increase interest rates aggressively for the remainder of the year as consumer prices are expected to remain elevated underpinned by an increase in fuel prices. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that consumer prices continued to increase in March due to rising global oil and food prices as a result of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Stats SA said the annual inflation rate in South Africa rose to 5.9 percent in March from 5.7 percent in February, and just below the upper limit of the SARB’s monetary policy target range of 6 percent. This consumer price index (CPI) print also marked the 11th consecutive month in which annual inflation has been higher than the midpoint…

OLD MUTUAL has announced a R2.8 billion broad-based black economic empowerment ownership scheme named Bula Tsela, to its staff and the black public, which will take its BBBEE ownership to more than 30 percent. The transaction would result in an approximate 4 percent increase in the BBBEE shareholding in Old Mutual, a statement from the 177-year-old life assurance and financial services group said yesterday. When Old Mutual did its “managed separation” from its former UK base and operations in 2018, it made a commitment to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to achieve a B-BBEE ownership percentage of at least 25 percent by June 2021, which was achieved. It also committed to be best in class (measured at that time) within five years or by…

QUILTER plc, the UK-based advice, investments and wealth management company, said yesterday that the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine had created uncertainty in its markets in the quarter to end-March 31 after strong early net funds flow momentum. The company said in a trading statement yesterday, however, that gross and net flows remained resilient, despite this uncertainty, and net inflows of £1 billion (about R19.29bn) were in line with those of the same period in 2021, and this represented 4 percent of opening. “Net inflows in the first two months of the year were comfortably ahead of the comparable period in 2021, but the invasion of Ukraine in late February dampened investor sentiment for most of March. “Our resilient overall performance throughout this period has underlined the strength…

MASTER Drilling yesterday told its shareholders in its annual report that it continued to show resilience in its growth path notwithstanding a challenging year due to the pandemic’s lasting effect on the global economy. Last month, the company posted its results for the year ended December 31, 2021. The group posted record revenue in US dollars, up 40 percent to $171.8 million (R2.55 billion), while cash from operating activities increased by 27.5 percent to $32.5m. “Free cash was invested sensibly with the long-term growth plan in mind. We are pleased with the group’s financial position, as this will help us confidently face the uncertainty of future trading conditions,” chief executive Danie Pretorius and Hennie van der Merwe said in their statements in the annual report. In the…