Star 2021-07-02

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@in.co.za MANUFACTURING and services’ industrial output edged down in June amid fresh concerns over rising Covid-19 cases and tighter lockdown restrictions. The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released yesterday showed a slow down for the third consecutive month to 57.4 index points in June from 57.8 points in May. Absa said although all five of the headline index’s major subcomponents were above the neutral 50-point mark, both business activity and new sales orders increased at a slower pace. It said that another expansion was likely in the third quarter as the sectors’ output recovery had been maintained in the second quarter. A significant annual expansion was effectively guaranteed given the extremely low base set in the second quarter of 2020, Absa said. Absa senior economist Miyelani…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za UK-HEADQUARTERED Petra Diamonds has shaken up its board with the appointment of business veterans Deborah Gudgeon, Alex Watson and Johannes Bhatt as non-executive directors a month after it agreed to pay compensation for dozens of people who allegedly suffered human rights violations at its Tanzanian diamond operation. Petra, which mines diamonds at the Williamson mine in Tanzania, and the Cullinan mine outside Pretoria, said it had appointed Gudgeon as chairperson designate of the audit and risk committee. Gudgeon currently serves as the non-executive director and chairs the audit committee of global steel and mining firm Evraz plc. Petra said it had appointed Watson and Bhatt as non-independent non- executive directors. Non-executive chairperson Peter Hill said: “I would like to welcome Deborah, Alex, and Johannes to the board…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STEINHOFF shares rose nearly 10 percent on the JSE yesterday before easing 7.9 percent to R2.04 after the embattled retailer claimed a victory against Hamilton. The rare victory came on the back of a Dutch court rejection of Hamilton BV and Hamilton 2 BV’s appeal in its proposed global litigation settlement and Dutch suspension of payments (Dutch SoP) proceedings. Steinhoff said Hamilton lodged an appeal as it was previously announced on May 28 against the decision of the Amsterdam District Court concerning the appointment of a committee of representation and measures regarding the list of claims as referred to in Article 259 of the Dutch Bankruptcy Act. “That hearing on the admissibility of the appeal was heard on June 22 before the Amsterdam Court of…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SASOL yesterday named Hanré Rossouw, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat), as its CFO designate following the resignation of Paul Victor, who has served the company for 20 years. Sasol said yesterday that Victor would step down at the end of June next year. He had agreed to remain with Sasol until the publication of the group’s financial results for the year to the end of June 2022, allowing for a six-month structured handover. Sasol said Rossouw had been RBPlat’s CFO since October 2018, where he was responsible for the restructuring of the balance sheet through the refinancing of debt and a rights issue, the introduction of a new capital allocation framework and a new dividend policy. Sasol chairperson Sipho Nkosi said Rossouw’s…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za SABVEST Capital’s (Sabcap) share price leapt by more than 5 percent on the JSE yesterday morning after the investment group said it expected its half-year earnings for the six months to the end of June to surge by more than 100 percent, boosted by investee companies that are trading at or ahead of pre-Covid-19 levels. Sabvest has interests in nine unlisted investments, which include Apex Partners, Classic Food Brands and Masimong Group Holdings, and direct and indirect interests in six listed investments, which include Transaction Capital, Metrofile Holdings and Corero Network Security plc. The group also has an offshore bond portfolio. The group said in a trading statement that it expected its headline earnings per share (Heps) and earnings per share (Eps) to be at…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za Delta Property Fund managed to reduce its full-year loss to R456.11 million for the year to end February, down from a loss of R940.29m compared to last year despite facing corporate governance challenges and significant macro-economic constraints as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. The real estate investment trust (Reit) had a tough year after former chief executive Sandile Nomvete resigned in August following allegations of fraud and the group appointed Sibongile Masinga as an interim chief executive. In the long-awaited results published at the close of the market on Wednesday, the group said the 2021 financial period was a watershed year for the group. “Corporate governance challenges and significant macro-economic constraints as a result of Covid-19 hard economic lockdowns culminated in several far-reaching, but positive…