Star 2022-09-22

THE DEPARTMENT of Public Enterprises and the South African Airways (SAA) said yesterday that all regulatory hurdles to the R3 billion Takatso Consortium deal, as the new majority stakeholder in the national carrier, should be cleared by March. This was heard at the presentation of the much delayed SAA’s results for the 2017/2018 year that were put on halt after the airline went into a tailspin, which culminated in the business rescue process. Acting director general in the Department of Public Enterprises Jacky Molisane; deputy director general Melanchton Makob; and SAA’s interim chief financial officer, Fikile Mhlontlo, told Parliament’s Public Enterprises Committee that government had done sufficient due diligence on Takatso’s financial capability. They said the only reason for the delay in the deal was the clearance…

Virtual meeting discusses a number of pertinent issues of Eskom power cuts THE GOVERNMENT will soon be announcing further interventions to deal with the ongoing energy crisis in South Africa, over and above the emergency energy plan presented in July. This emerged as Cabinet held its scheduled virtual meeting yesterday to discuss a number of pertinent issues related to crippling power cuts implemented by Eskom. The struggling power utility last week plunged the country into severe stage 6 rotational load shedding as a number of its ageing coal-fired power plants experienced unplanned breakdowns. Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said on Wednesday that the Cabinet expressed regret that intermittent load shedding was happening at a time when the government was engaged with the interventions announced in July to overcome the energy…

CONSUMER prices in South Africa fell slightly in August due to softening fuel prices as the global oil prices eased, though food inflation continued upwards. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) today showed that the annual consumer inflation edged lower to 7.6% in August from 7.8% in July. However, though the consumer price index (CPI) has moderated this August inflation print remains above market expectations of 7.5% and the upper limit of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’S) target range of 3% to 6%. StatsSA said that fuel prices decreased by 3.8% between July and August, with petrol falling by 5% and diesel by 0.9%, pushing the annual rate for fuel down to 43.2% from 56.2% in July. StatsSA chief director for price statistics Patrick Kelly said the welcome decrease…

ESKOM yesterday warned the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to grant the full 32% tariff increase it requires in the 2023 year or face the consequences. Appearing before Nersa in public hearings to justify its Multi Year Price Determination 5 Eskom said if the tariff was not granted the power utility would risk the further deterioration of its assets leading to load shedding. This as the utility was not able to cater for its maintenance programmes with the current rates it was paid. Kabelo Masike, a senior Treasury economist at Eskom, said that Nersa discounting elements of the proposal, including costs incurred, to give a lower determination only kicked the can down the road. “The lower inflation tariff scenario is always the more favourable, but the shortfall has…

YORK TIMBER Holdings’ headline earnings per fell sharply to 9 cents in the 12 months to June 30, from 40c a year before after heavy rainfall affected its operations. Directors said in the results yesterday they had to temporarily close down all operations at its sawmill in Graskop during the year due to the sawmill being dependent on South African Forestry Company (Safcol) for log supply. Volumes awarded by Safcol were significantly less than bid volumes. With no raw material security, a decision was made to temporarily close down the operation. The inconsistent log supply to York’s mills was, in the 2021 annual report, already identified as the top risk that the company might face, as Safcol had been failing to meet contractual obligations due to operational capacity constraints.…

SASFIN Holdings lifted headline earnings a share 23.6% in the year to June 30 after increased borrowings by businesses fuelled growth, leaving all the group’s key financial drivers strengthened, chief executive Michael Sassoon said yesterday. Headline earnings improved to R166.7 million for the year ended June 30, 2022, from R141.1m in 2021. The better earnings were mainly from improved credit performance and it enabled the raising of a cash dividend by 18.2% for the financial year to 154.85 cents per share. Total income was flat due to divestment from non-core businesses. However, group profit improved sharply to R183.9m from R77.6m, following an 18.6% increase in loans and advances to R8.6 billion. “We weathered Covid well and we feel we are in a good position. This growth was…