Star 2023-09-20

ASPEN Pharmacare has been contracted by the global manufacturer of human insulin, Novo Nordisk, to produce 16 million vials of insulin next year. Novo Nordisk said yesterday that it had contracted Aspen Pharmacare to produce human insulin on its behalf in South Africa for export to African countries through a low-cost government tender system. According to Novo, the deal marks its “expanded commitment” to improving access to life-saving insulin for people living with diabetes in Africa. Novo said the amount that Aspen would produce next year under the contract equates to the yearly consumption of 1.1 million people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In terms of the contract, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited and its wholly-owned South African subsidiary, Aspen SA Operations have agreed with Novo Nordisk,…

THE NATIONAL Treasury has proposed drastic cuts in government spending relating to recruitment, travel, accommodation, catering, capital projects, and replacement of working equipment, including computers and cellphones, in the next six months as part of fiscal consolidation as the government forecasts a R22 billion tax revenue shortfall. In the guidelines on cost-containment measures for the 2023/24 financial year, the Treasury advises accounting officers and accounting authorities on specific measures required to achieve much-needed savings and prevent the materialisation of potentially crippling resource constraints in the later part of the financial year. In the document, the Treasury said the current fiscal challenges originate mainly from an exceptionally large year-to-date decline in government tax revenue collections and tighter financial conditions that have constrained the government’s borrowing programme. “These constraints are exacerbated…

Price per kilo of LPG has been unilaterally hiked by at least R4 in the Western Cape after Avedia and Sunrise tiff THE BIG FOUR Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) wholesalers in the country are weighing options of trucking gas to their tanks rather than rely on new player EML Energy, which has taken over the Sunrise terminal in Cape Town and raised surcharges, which had to be passed on to the consumer. The four prominent LPG wholesalers are Afrox, Easigas, Total Gas and Afrox. Following the exit of Vitagas as a supplier of LPG from the Sunrise Facility, EML Energy has now begun using the Sunrise Energy Facility to import pro- duct and supply to the market players. This is as it emerges that the price per kilo of LPG…

Manufacturing businesses in South Africa remain optimistic about conditions over the next 12 months but have resolved to delay investing in expanding their operations due to uncertainty over the electricity supply. The Absa Manufacturing Survey for the third quarter showed yesterday that confidence levels in the manufacturing sector improved by 6 points to 23 points on the back of better business conditions. However, the sector remains under pressure as confidence levels were still in contractionary territory below 50 points, which separates contraction from expansion. Justin Schmidt, Absa’s Relationship Banking head of manufacturing sector, said that respondents to the survey had noted an increased level of sales and production during the third quarter, supported by the easing intensity of load shedding during August. The quarterly survey, which covers…

CONSUMER confidence in the South African property market improved five percentage points to 78% in the second quarter, reflecting slightly higher optimism about future recovery, the Absa Homeowners Sentiment Index showed yesterday. “Responses started to reflect a slightly higher level of optimism of future recovery, carrying views that property is a secure asset that will create sufficient demand over the longer term,” Absa said. It said that when respondents were asked whether it was considered an appropriate time to invest in property, the investor customer segment of respondents reflected a 10 percentage point improvement in overall positive sentiment compared to the first quarter. For the investors who did not consider it an appropriate time to invest in property, fewer respondents were concerned that tenants could not afford to pay rent.…

MUSTEK, the information technology group, yesterday admitted it might not see good growth in its 2024 financial year, due to weak markets, but it planned an improvement in cash flow, reduced working capital and a stronger balance sheet. The group, which provides technology products, solutions from software and cloud licences to networking, data centre solutions, surveillance, data storage and cloud computing, increased headline earnings a share 5% to 375.18 cents in the year to June 30, its results released yesterday showed. Investors appeared to be positive on the group’s outlook, with the share price rising a substantial 7.96% to R15.60 yesterday afternoon, while the JSE All Share Index was up only 0.04% at the same time. Revenue increased 13.7% to R10.13 billion, but gross profit fell 13.9%, only…