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PICK N PAY in Eerste River, Cape Town, yesterday formally launched its new supermarket brand QualiSave, a chain of stores significantly different from those of its mother-brand, which will cater to emerging middle-class consumers. The difference from the traditional old-style Pick n Pay stores is very apparent in the new store. For instance, there is a large aisle dedicated to commodity foods often sold in bulk for price competitiveness, such as oil, flour, maize and beans. Another example is the fresh meat section which allows for the purchase of smaller portions, such as single sausages, to cater for lunch time trade. There is also a large frozen food section. All products and prices are particularly well postered to make shopping easier. Each QualiSave store is…
Demand for affordable energy sources escalated amid energy security crisis THUNGELA Resources shares leapt by 8 percent yesterday after the mining firm delivered another set of exceptional interim results driven by elevated benchmark coal prices and declared a whopping interim dividend of R8.2 billion. The share price traded at a high of R299 in morning trade and closed at R285.29 on the JSE yesterday, with the shares having increased by 461 percent in the past year. However, chief executive July Ndlovu flagged in an interview that Thungela’s ability to fully take advantage of the strong price environment in the first half of 2022 was hindered by Transnet Freight Rail’s continued under-performance. “A consistently well run logistics corridor between Mpumalanga and Richards Bay is crucial not only for…
THE BUSINESS community will step in to help Eskom safeguard its infrastructure, as well as provide the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with the skills it needs to successfully prosecute those involved in State capture. This comes after business leaders met on Friday to discuss how to take forward a request – made two weeks ago by Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter – for help in protecting Eskom’s equipment from sabotage and theft. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) yesterday said business was concerned about electricity supply, because rolling blackouts made doing business expensive, if not impossible. The theft of cables, overhead lines, transformers and conductors cost Eskom about R2 billion a year, hampering the power utility’s ability to provide a service. BLSA chief executive Busi Mavuso said they had…
THE FOOD AND Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Global Food Price Index presented a welcome picture of deceler- ating global prices from the peaks seen in the days and weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Wandile Sihlobo, the Agricultural Business Chamber’s chief economist, said yesterday. However, various risks on the horizon needed monitoring as they could impact the price direction. “We had two important data releases in the global environment these past two weeks; the FAO Global Food Price index for July 2022 and the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report,” he said. The former painted an encouraging picture of continuous softening of prices, having deteriorated by 9 percent in July from June to 141 points. This marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline, undermined by softening in the prices…
RICHEMONT yesterday urged shareholders to vote against appointing a representative of activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to the luxury goods firm’s board, citing his links to rival LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton. Chairperson Johann Rupert asked shareholders to reject the appointment of Bluebell co-founder Francesco Trapani at the shareholders meeting on September 7, seeking to derail Bluebell’s bid to broaden representation on the board of the Cartier jewellery group. Trapani was the chief executive of Bulgari when it was bought by LVMH in 2011 and was on LVMH’s board of directors from 2011 to 2016 where he was also adviser to Bernard Arnault, its chief executive and chairperson. “LVMH is one of our company’s key competitors,” Rupert wrote in a letter to shareholders. “The board may not responsibly recommend to…
Absa GROUP lifted headline earnings a solid 27 percent to R11 billion in the first half of the year as revenue increased, demonstrating a continued recovery from the global economic downturn in 2020, and the half year dividend more than doubled to 650 cents a share. The bank, which set out a strategy in 2018 to gain market share from when it operated under former parent Barclays, saw normalised earnings from South Africa increase 27 percent to R9.22bn, while normalised earnings from the rest of Africa operations increase 36 percent to R1.77bn. First half pre-provision profit was solid, supported by revenue that rose 14 percent, underpinned by growth across its business units and supported by a strong rebound in the insurance business in South…
