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Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za TIGER Brands said yesterday that the recall of certain Koo and Hugo’s pro- ducts coupled with the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng had cost the business more than R700 million. Tiger Brands, the JSE-listed packaged goods company, said the write-off of assets plus stock losses related to the civil unrest had amounted to about R100m pre-tax, and the adverse financial impact of the recall totalled R647m pre-tax. In July Tiger Brands recalled certain Koo and Hugo’s products as a result of a side seam weld defect that might cause a leak. At the time the group estimated that the recall would cost between R500m and R650m when taking into account the cost of the potentially affected stock that might be written off, transport and…
Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za ABSA’S share price remained un- affected amid an unfolding board spat that saw the financial group yesterday appoint Sello Moloko as chairperson as prominent businessperson Sipho Pityana late on Monday launched a surprise legal salvo against not being chosen for the position. Pityana is the former Business Unity South Africa president and also the former AngloGold Ashanti chairperson. The market barely reacted to the news that shocked the business and political sectors, the share price closing at R144.61 on the JSE yesterday. Absa announced that Moloko would be taking over from Wendy Lucas-Bull on March 31, 2022. Lucas-Bull announced in June that she would step down as chairperson of the Absa board after nine years.…
Economy suffers power blackouts due to breakdowns at coal-fired power plants Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za ESKOM has revealed an ambitious plan which will see it invest more than R170 billion over the next decade in new capacity expansion projects for transmission of electricity. The struggling power utility yesterday shared its transmission development plan for the period 2022 to 2031 with various stakeholders as part of its licence requirements issued by the energy regulator. The economy has been dealt a blow by Eskom’s crippling power blackouts since 2007 due to breakdowns at its ageing, coal-fired power plants, and the maintenance programme currently under way. The power utility has also had its infrastructure damaged due to vandalism, theft and tampering. Group executive for transmission Segomoco Scheppers said the organisation continued to prioritise…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za PRECIOUS metals producer Sibanye- Stillwater’s shares leapt nearly 4 percent yesterday after the group told investors that the $1 billion (R14.74bn) acquisition of green metal assets in Brazil was value accretive to its cash flow and earnings. In intraday trade, the share leapt to a high of R53.79 on the JSE, opening the day at R51.79, before closing at 53.12. Sibanye-Stillwater said it had signed sale agreements with affiliates of funds advised by Appian Capital Advisory to acquire full ownership of the Santa Rita nickel and the Serrote copper mines in Brazil for $1bn. The company is also buying a 5 percent net smelter return royalty over potential future underground production at Santa Rita. Chief executive Neal Froneman said yesterday that in addition to…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JUST SHARE, the non-profit shareholder activist group, has blamed Sasol, the fossil fuel company, whose operations include Secunda, the world’s biggest single-point source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for refusing to table the sixth shareholder-proposed resolution filed with the company in five consecutive years. Robyn Hugo, Just Share’s director for Climate Change Engagement, said yesterday that it was difficult to understand why Sasol continued to resist tabling shareholder-proposed resolutions that would allow shareholders to vote on improved disclosure, particularly when such resolutions were not only non-binding, but made requests for information that Sasol says it was already planning to provide. Hugo said it was clear from this history that Sasol’s refusals were not grounded in a consistent application of the law, nor in sound principles of corporate…
Growth in agricultural exports could slow down as a new set of regulations, part of the EU Green Deal's Farm-to-Fork Strategy, is implemented next year, says the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz). According to Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo, the strategy would come with an additional layer of regulations which have implications on South Africa. “As a background, the Sacu (Southern African Customs Union) and Mozambique-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) of 2016 enhanced market access benefits for South Africa. These included fully or partially removed customs duties on 98.7 percent of exports, expansion of tariff rate quotas on key agricultural exports, and a more implementable agricultural safeguard mechanism, among others. Since the implementation of the agreement in October 2016, South Africa's exports to the EU have increased by 25 percent,…
