Star 2022-08-31

SUPER Group, the logistics and mobility solutions group, is well positioned to deliver a strong performance in its 2023 financial year, chief executive Peter Mountford said yesterday. The release of strong results for the year to June 30 2022, in spite of challenging markets in Southern Africa, Europe, UK and Australasia, seemed to be reflected in the share price, which closed 4.88 percent higher at R29.33 on the JSE yesterday. Mountford said they would continue to be affected by weak economic growth and challenging trading conditions, regardless of the countries or industries in which they operate. Strict expense and cash management would be critical to mitigate lower volumes, reduced rates and smaller margins, and the group would maintain a conservative and robust financial position,” chief financial officer Colin Brown…

STADIO Holdings, the private tertiary education company, reported a solid 24 percent increase in taxed profit in the six months to June off the back of an 11 percent increase in student numbers and 18 percent growth in new student enrolments. The group services the higher education market in SA through three private institutions – Stadio Higher Education, Milpark and AFDA. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through contact, distance and blended learning. Chief executive Chris Vorster said in a telephone interview that the results were good and resulted from a strong demand in professional qualifications. “We have a high level of capital and are entering a growth phase,” he said. All outstanding debt was repaid in the six months and there was a revolving credit facility…

OLD MUTUAL increased results from operations by 87 percent to R4.1 billion in the six months to June 30 due to a strong operating performance, the exit from the Covid pandemic and even though it was the first time that Nedbank’s results were not included. The interim dividend was maintained at 25 cents. Life annual premium equivalent (APE) sales grew 15 percent to R6.2bn. Gross written premiums increased 9 percent to R10.9bn. The solvency ratio was robust, up by 300 basis points to 187 percent. The share price closed 8.17 percent lower at R10.57 on the JSE yesterday. BoFA Securities said in a note Old Mutual’s results “from operations (were) comfortably ahead of prior expectations. Positively, this seems a fairly clean update.” The…

THE Hate You Give actress Amandla Stenberg took time out to respond to the heat South Africans have been giving her on social media recently. She was criticised for butchering the pronunciation of her Xhosa name. In a TikTok video, she said: “Okay, so I am coming on here because I’ve seen a lot of people talking about my name and how I pronounce it, and I want to get in the discourse because I’ve been thinking about these things a lot too.” Stenberg proved she can pronounce her name the “correct” way but cleared the air as to why she sometimes chose to pronounced it the way she did. “A lot of Westerners and Europeans say: ‘Oh your parents took ‘Amanda’ and slipped and ‘l’ in there’. No, girl,…

Arguably Africa’s biggest and most prestigious dance event, JOMBA! is back at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, UKZN, KwaZulu-Natal, following a two-year hiatus. The festival will see artists and performers from Mozambique, Switzerland, Reunion Island, India andSouth Africa showcase their works at JOMBA!’s first full live event since the Covid pandemic. “We are thrilled and relieved to be finally presenting our much-loved festival, live and in-person while keeping some works and events online to include those not able to attend,” said artistic director and curator Dr Lliane Loots. “One of the things we’ve really lost with Covid is interacting with one another; meeting in the foyer, seeing people you haven’t seen for a while, talking to other dancers, watching people exchange, artists connecting with one another, just an affirmation of community.…

Number of incidents has soared to 300 000 across SA, shows crime survey Statistics SA has raised the alarm over a “significant” increase in hijackings across South Africa in the past 12 months. Releasing the results of the Victims of Crime Report from the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2021/22 at a media briefing in Pretoria, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said there has been a marked increase in hijackings. “There has been a significant increase in hijackings between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 period … In the 2020/21 period there were 151 000, and now we have gone all the way to 330 000,” he said. According to the StatsSA survey, about 62.9% of those who experienced hijackings reported some or all of the incidents to the police.…