Star 2023-05-05

State is trying to shift the blame of South Africa’s escalating cost of food prices to the retailers, says Pick n Pay boss PICK N PAY chairperson Gareth Acker- man has lambasted the government for apparently shifting the blame of escalating cost of food prices to retailers instead of fixing the energy crisis. This comes as food inflation rose to its highest in 14 years in April, driven by rising irrigation costs for farmers and additional expenditure on diesel by retailers amidst rotational power cuts. Load shedding in South Africa has severely disrupted business activity, with retailers having to trade less hours and risk having their stock getting spoiled if they do not have alternative sources of electricity, which come at a great cost. Speaking at the presentation…

PICK N PAY chairperson Gareth Acker- man has warned of the existential threat that the ongoing rotational load shedding was putting on the entire food industry in South Africa. Ackerman yesterday said the probability of social unrest relating to food shortages and possible store closures if black outs got too high was now heightened. Pick n Pay delivered a resilient performance for the 52 weeks ended February 26, 2023. The group had to contend with the impacts of unprecedented levels of load shedding and spending an incremental R522 million on diesel to run generators. Ackerman said the only meaningful government action seemed to be inaction, and to place blame on those trying to help solve the problems amidst the reality of structural economic decline. Despite…

PICK N PAY’S shares ended the day 9% lower as the market digested the worrying picture the retailer portrayed of operating in South Africa and the increased hardships and reality of running a massive consumer-based business amid the worst energy crisis the country has ever faced. However, the group said yesterday that despite spending nearly half a billion rand on diesel to run generators, it had delivered an encouraging performance in the second half of the trading year. The share closed 9.16% lower at R37.39 on the JSE yesterday. In its results for the 52 weeks ended February 26, 2023, the retailer said that given high inflationary pressures exacerbated by load shedding, it was pleased to have exercised good cost discipline in its operations throughout the year. It…

THERE is a certain allure about revisiting a judgment that has created an opportunity for a violent interruption of the constitutional expectations of the citizens in their contractual relationships with financial institutions. For Bredenkamp, in any language, is a rampaging injustice on steroids. There is no doubt that there are so many complex layers that attend to the Bredenkamp case. None of them are more compelling than the quintessential task of the courts to hold the scales of justice and achieve a state of balance, however fragile, among the contending parties. First, these are the litigants themselves, next are the public policy considerations and last the interest of the public at large. It behoves enquiry whether or not the justices of the last court of appeal on legal questions acquitted…

KAL GROUP (KAL), previously known as Kaap Agri, saw its diversification strategy bear further fruit in the six months to March 31, with revenue up sharply and in spite of a knock in recurring earnings from load shedding. “Irrespective of poor economic conditions and unrelenting load shedding, and three years where business has had to face disruptions from Covid-19, looting in KwaZulu-Natal and the impact of SOE (State-owned enterprise) failure on agricultural customers, KAL has managed to achieve sustainable growth in recurring headline earnings,” CEO Sean Walsh said in a telephone interview yesterday. Recurring headline earnings grew 18.1%, but if load shedding costs were excluded, recurring headline earnings increased by 27.2%. An interim dividend of 50 cents per share (46c) was declared. Walsh said there were plans to reduce…

BELOWORLD’S termination of distributorship of heavy mining and construction equipment to Zimbabwe has left Zimbabwean Stock Exchange-listed Zimplow in a big financial loss despite expected recovery of the two sectors in the country. Zimplow controls Barzem and is now negotiating with other suppliers to sustain supplies to local miners and construction companies. Industry sources say Barloworld is now distributing Caterpillar heavy equipment in the Zimbabwean market on its own. To counter the effects of the termination of distribution agreement with Barloworld, Zimplow is buying out Barloworld’s 49% stake in Barzem, the distributor of Caterpillar equipment in Zimbabwe. On the positive side, there has been an improvement in demand for solar and battery products under the company’s energy solutions division. The board has determined that it will “protect shareholder value by…