Star 2024-03-12

Commission grants intervention rights to Sasol, Astron Energy and Numsa THE MERGED entity between Vitol Emerald Bidco and South Africa’s biggest filling station operator, Engen, will affect production and supply of refined petroleum products from local refineries, the Competition Commission said at a hearing of the Competition Tribunal yesterday. The Competition Tribunal is holding hearings into Vitol’s acquisition of Engen this week after granting intervention rights to Sasol South Africa, Astron Energy South Africa and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa). Yesterday, the Competition Commission said in its presentation to the hearing that it had “found evidence that the merger was likely to result in the foreclosure of local production, due to the loss of a significant customer” who is Engen. The commission wants the merger between…

FAIRTREE, a relatively young asset management firm based in Bellville, Western Cape, has outperformed the major players in South Africa’s investment industry to win the coveted South African Manager of the Year trophy at the annual Raging Bull Awards gala dinner, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Monday. The event recognised outstanding performance to the end of 2023 by unit trust fund managers in selecting investments for their portfolios, taking into account consistency and aversion to risk. The Manager of the Year awards are based on the risk-adjusted performance of a manager’s suite of quali- fying unit trust funds, as determined by the PlexCrown Fund Ratings system, over a five-year period. The runners-up in the South African Manager of the Year race were last year’s winner, PSG…

South African privately owned gold producer Aurous has announced plans to go public and list under the Nasdaq index under a scheme that includes a business combination with US-based Rigel Resource Acquisition Corp at a value of R6.76 billion. Aurous owns and operates the Blyvoor gold mine, also known as Blyvooruitzicht, as well as the Gauta tailings retreatment project on the West Rand in Gauteng. On completion, which is expected for the second half of this year, the transaction involving Aurous and Rigel Resource will become one of the first significant gold industry deals in South Africa in a long time. “This transaction and associated influx of foreign investment into South Africa has the potential to enable further meaningful job creation, continued revitalisation of the local community and recapitalisation…

INVESTMENT firm Remgro said yesterday in a trading statement for the six months to December that its headline earnings per share (Heps) were likely to decrease between 35% and 45% mainly due to Heineken Beverages’ trading results, among other corporate actions. Heps were flagged at between 344 cents and 407c. The firm said the decrease was largely driven by Heineken Beverages’ volumes being impacted by lower industry growth, load shedding, a shift from premium to mainstream and a challenging competitive environment. Margins were also negatively impacted by non-recurring expenses related to integration and supply chain challenges. It also said a lower contribution from Community Investment Ventures Holdings mainly due to higher finance costs resulting from increased interest rates; and a special dividend received from FirstRand of R154 million…

THE FNB/BER Building Confidence Index fell dramatically in the first quarter of 2023 after rising to an eight-year high in the fourth quarter of last year. FNB senior economist Siphamandla Mkhwanazi said yesterday that the index had dropped by 16 points to reach a level of 27 in the first quarter of 2024, which was the joint lowest level since mid-2020. The current level means more than 70% of respondents to the index survey are dissatisfied with business conditions. Alarmingly, most of the sub-sectors in the index saw a marked fall in confidence. Relative to last year’s final quarter, the following changes were registered: building material manufacturers (-29), building subcontractors (-25), architects (-25) and hardware retailers (-23). Main contractors and quantity surveyors recorded a slight uptick in confidence of…

IN A PIVOTAL announcement, the Minister of Employment and Labour has sanctioned a 5.5% upward revision to the earnings threshold, set to take effect on April 1, 2024. This landmark decision holds profound consequences for both employers and employees across South Africa. New earnings threshold Commencing April 1, the annual earnings threshold will stand at R254 371.67. This figure reflects a meticulous adjustment based on the consumer price index (CPI). However, the seemingly modest increase carries significant implications. 1. Balancing rationality and economic pressures The first noteworthy aspect lies in the comparison with the National Minimum Wage. While the earnings threshold experiences a 5.5% boost, the National Minimum Wage follows a formula of CPI plus 3%. In practical terms, this signifies that the earnings threshold’s growth is notably…