Cape Times 2024-08-02

STEEL MAKER ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) expects improvements in electricity supply and operational improvements at Transnet to yield higher production levels and cost competitiveness after half-year headline losses worsened by 150% and its net asset value per share took a 42% dive. After deciding to continue with its long steel business, Amsa said the unit was “broadly performing stably” and within expectations. However, the company’s production of crude steel decreased by 10%, or 133 000 tons to 1.22 million tons, in the first half year to June compared to the previous year. Sales volumes for the period were 2% softer, at 1.2 million tons. Interim revenues were 3% narrower, at R20.5 billion. Shares in Amsa traded 2.26% weaker. at R1.36 at 6pm on the JSE yesterday. This was after…

SOUTH African Breweries (SAB), South African subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev), which boosted beer volumes in the half-year to June, has paid R3.5 billion of the re-assessed R4.5bn demanded by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) in settlement of a tax dispute from 2017. The dispute between the SAB, AB InBev’s local unit, and Sars related to the taxman’s audit of the brewery company’s repurchase of an equity stake in Coca-Cola Bevereges Africa. The audit also covered the related subscription for shares in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa by subsidiaries of the Coca-Cola Company. “The South African Revenue Service conducted an audit of AB InBev’s South African subsidiary, the South African Breweries, in relation to the 2017 repurchase of SAB’s equity stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the Coca-Cola bottling business in…

GLENCORE’S former head of oil, Alex Beard, has been charged with bribery offences relating to the Swiss commodity trader’s operations in Africa, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said yesterday. Beard, 56, was charged with two conspiracies to make corrupt payments to government officials and officials of state-owned oil companies in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014 and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014, the SFO said. He is one of five ex-Glencore employees charged with conspiracy to make corrupt payments. Andrew Gibson and Martin Wakefield had also been charged in relation to the falsification of invoices to Glencore’s London office marked as service fees to a Nigerian oil consultancy from 2007 to 2011. A hearing is scheduled for 10am on September 10 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the UK. Director of…

New vehicle sales increased 1.5% to 44 229 units in July, an increase that could be the turning point for a better second half of the year, Naamsa | the Automotive Business Council said yesterday. Export sales, which are crucial to keep the local vehicle manufacturing industry financially viable, however, decreased sharply by 12 671 units, or 33.2%, to 25 461 units in July. New vehicle sales have fallen every month to July this year bar April, where it increased by only 2.2% compared with April 2023. July’s new passenger car sales at 29 934 units increased by 1 894 cars, or by 6.8% compared with the same month in 2023. Lebo Gaoaketse, head of marketing at WesBank, said the uptick in new vehicle sales was off the back of…

As Discovery Vitality realigns its health food partner strategy, its decade-long relationship with retailer Pick n Pay will officially end on August 31. While not the best timing for the retailer, the end of the partnership and Discovery Vitality’s decision was announced on September 26, 2023, before Sean Summers took over at Pick n Pay as chief executive and started implementing a turnaround plan. Discovery’s health and wellness offering will be teaming up, from September, with Shoprite’s Checkers brand as well as its Sixty60 offering for the Vitality HealthyFood benefit. On Wednesday, Shoprite reported that total sales of merchandise grew by 12% to around R240.7 billion from continuing operations in the year to June. Online sales from the Checkers Sixty60 app grew by 58.1%. Peter Takaendesa, head of equities at…

CASH ECONOMIES have historically been linked to all sorts of crimes and corruption, including tax evasion and counterfeiting. Research has shown that cashless economies provide a stronger control regime against money laundering, which could be used to funnel corruption and terrorist activities. India, a BRICS member state and one of the fastest-developing economies in the Global South, has substantially transformed its payment practices into a cashless economy with a forecast of $344 billion (R6.3 trillion), according to GlobalData. This represents a year-on-year growth of 11.3%. This shift is mainly attributable to the rapid changes in consumer preferences and confidence in card payments and advancements in technology that has enabled this transformation but more importantly, enabled India to better monitor terrorist activities within its borders. South Africa, with a population of…