Pretoria News 2022-05-18

THE LAND BANK has warned that its operational and liability challenges could prevail beyond the end of September after it and its lenders failed to agree on the third liability solution to be implemented before the end of the 2022 financial year. The struggling State-owned agricultural lender and its lenders are collectively working towards September 30 for the conclusion and implementation of the liability solution. This is in a bid to cure the event of default and enable the Land Bank to restart the rebuilding process towards a true development finance institution. Land Bank chairperson Thabi Nkosi said yesterday that the newly appointed board was engaging with lenders on improved measures, including ongoing workshops, to consider all the burning issues raised by the lenders about the proposed liability solution. Nkosi…

PICK N PAY chairperson Gareth Acker- man yesterday said the economy needed speedy surgery as he called for the government to urgently sort out its energy policy issues while harnessing the capability of the private sector to aid the recovery. This as South Africa has been plunged into repeated load shedding by power utility Eskom, knocking the bottom line of businesses, and hitting the economy. Speaking during the presentation of the Pick n Pay company results for the 52 weeks ended February 27, 2022, Ackerman said it was only through trusted partnership that the economy would recover. “The constant focus on issues other than growing the economy is resulting in a smaller cake to share among a growing population. We need to grow the economy and start…

THE NIGHT of the long knives is looming at the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) following the completion of investigations into maladministration and corruption, which have raised more questions than answers, particularly on charges against its suspended acting chief executive, Sobantu Tilayi. Disciplinary action is being considered against Tilayi for mobilising a process to transfer funds from the Maritime Fund without informing the board or obtaining the resolution of the board, and proceeding with the request to transfer funds from the Maritime fund without full disclosure to the lawful Samsa board in office at the time of the request. A second official, company secretary Lolo Raphadu, is on the ropes in the final report for allegedly proceeding with the request to transfer funds from the Maritime fund without full disclosure…

IN AN EFFORT to claim back market share, the Pick n Pay yesterday launched a new strategic plan, which “will see the retailer transform into a two customer-facing brands” as it signed a partnership with online retailer Takealot and its Mr D service to ramp up its online sales. The strategy was unveiled by chief executive Pieter Boone as he delivered the retailer’s results for the 52 weeks ended February 27, 2022. He said the the goal of the four-year plan was to “deliver group turnover growth at a compound annual rate of 10 percent, resulting in market share growth for the group of at least 3 percent“. The strategy was formulated after almost a year in customer research, with more than 7 000 customer interviews. “The…

INCREASINGLY, empty business towers and shopping premises epitomise subdued business activity in the central business district of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, coinciding with price increases that the government now hope to stop by removing duty on goods imported from South Africa and other neighbouring countries. Downstairs at the office towers and across the Harare city centre’s major roads, informal traders duck police and council authorities. Inside the few supermarkets dotted around the city, prices change daily, and sometimes twice a day as operators adjust to the reality of quick-paced exchange rate fluctuations. “We have a new system whereby prices are changed at head office. Sometimes, the price that’s on the shelf is not matched by the one obtaining at the till-point, because the changes are just too much,” one merchandiser with…

PREMIER Fishing and Brands posted a solid 75 percent increase in headline earnings a share to 3.07 cents in the six months to February 28 in spite of the continued aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and constrained natural resources. Premier is a vertically integrated organisation, which through its subsidiaries specialises in harvesting, processing, marketing, sales and distribution of a variety of marine products. It owns and manages factories, an abalone farm, and several fishing vessels. The group holds medium to long-term fishing rights in squid, lobster, small and large pelagic as well as hake. It also produces organic fertilisers through the “Seagro” brand. A reduction in revenue by R62 million to R224m was due to a scarcity of the squid resource, one of the biggest contributors to…