Star 2023-07-20

PICK N PAY’S shares took an almost 9% nose dive yesterday as it reported a decline in sales for the 20 weeks ended July 16, 2022, as it cut promotional spending amid high operating cost pressures due to load shedding. The shares fell 8.19% to close at R35.11 on the JSE yesterday and has decreased by 38.33% in the past six months. In its trading statement, released yesterday, the retailer said Pick n Pay SA sales declined 0.3%, 0.0% like-for-like. The slower sales momentum relative to the 3.2% reported for the second half of the 2023 financial year, was a consequence of reduced promotional activity during the period as Pick n Pay managed the impact of extraordinary operating cost pressures caused by elevated load…

Consumers may not get relief yet as SARB still tipped to increase borrowing costs FINANCIALLY-constrained consumers may have to contend with a further increase in the cost of borrowing as the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is tipped to keep interest rates elevated in spite of inflation falling to its lowest in 20 months in June. Data from Statistics SA (StatsSA) yesterday showed that annual headline inflation cooled to 5.4% in June from 6.3% in May, dragged lower by fuel and food prices. Inflation in June sank below the upper limit of the SARB target range of 3 to 6% for the first time since April 2022, and was the lowest reading since October 2021 when the rate was 5%. However, inflation is still higher than the 4.5% mid-point of…

THE COMPETITION Tribunal is hard pressed to decide on whether to give Lottoland South Africa a further six-month interim relief period to advertise on Google Ireland Limited and Google South Africa after the global search engine excluded it from its landing page to protect itself from non-compliance with the National Lotteries Act and some of its policies. Lottoland SA offers a wide range of lotteries and sports betting. Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi chaired the Tribunal, which comprises Dr Thando Vilakazi and Andre Wessels. Lottoland SA was represented by Advocate Paul Farlam, while Google Ireland and Google SA were represented by Advocate Michelle le Roux. Lottoland SA yesterday told the Tribunal that the exclusionary behaviour by Google on its platform had prejudiced its advertising functions and, though it could not quantify the…

Eskom’s System Operator has reiterated assurances that the power utility has enough “defensive barriers” to prevent a national blackout in South Africa in spite of the ongoing electricity deficit. This comes after Eskom yesterday ramped up load shedding to Stage 4 until Saturday evening due to the breakdowns of eight generating units on Tuesday evening. Breakdowns have increased to 19 127MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 2 313MW. Eskom’s General Manager System Operator Isabel Fick yesterday said that Eskom had in place at least six defensive barriers to avert a grid collapse, including a reserve margin of 2 200MW available at any time. Fick said though South Africa did have a capacity generation problem, this has not caused system blackouts in…

PICK N PAY chairperson Gareth Acker- man yesterday lambasted the government’s legislative changes on the Employment Equity Amendment Act, which he said threatens private em- ployers if they fail to employ a workforce mirroring racial demographics. Speaking at the group’s annual general meeting held yesterday, Ackerman said: “It’s been hard to stay positive about the future of SA for a long time now”. He said the act would have the effect of making large numbers of quali- fied people unemployed and substituting them with unqualified people. “It is very probably unconstitutional and could ruin many productive companies and foreign investments on which the economy depends. “I cannot understand why our government has not caught up with the times,” Ackerman said. He said the act tried to force on…

SUPER Group is acquiring 78.82% of UK-based logistics and transport business CBW Group Holdings for £30.3 million (R710m). Super Group, the JSE-listed global logistics and mobility solutions group, said yesterday the acquisition of CBW Group Holdings, which trades as Amco, was in line with their strategy to make selective acquisitions in its core supply chain, fleet solutions and dealerships businesses. It said yesterday the acquisition would complement the group’s supply chain offering, providing opportunities for market share gains across the UK and Europe. Super Group raised a five-year corporate bond on June 29, 2023, of R810m to facilitate the acquisition. Its share price closed 1.78% up at R33.65 on the JSE yesterday, a price that had risen 22.9% over a year. Amco is also a leading provider of specialist…