Company news in brief
Pick n Pay appeal hearing todayThe Johannesburg High Court has ruled in favour of Pick n Pay in a case the JSE-listed retailer brought against one of its key franchisees over a nearly R200 million debt it is allegedly owed.The judgment, which was handed down on Friday, also referred to some of arguments made in the legal case by franchisee John A Baladakis as “vague”, “frivolous” and “superficial”.
Baladakis told News24 previously he did not think the debt was lawful, so he decided to challenge it, but Pick n Pay argued it had been left with little option.
The matter centred on the implementation of a bulk discounting model dating back to 2018, with an appeal hearing set for today. - Fin24Uber eyes African start-upUber Technologies is in talks to back African vehicle-financing startup Moove in a funding round of as much as US$100 million (R1.9 billion), people familiar with the matter have said.
The US ride-hailing firm will join a group of investors in the cash raise, which will push Moove’s enterprise value to about US$750 million from about US$650 million, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous as the talks are still private.
The funding round has not yet concluded and the final figure could still change, ranging between about US$75 million and US$100 million, they said. Representatives for Uber and Moove declined to comment. – Fin24/BloombergAECI flags earning dropChemicals group AECI has flagged a between 7% and 16% fall in headline earnings per share for its year to end-December, but basic earnings are expected to rise in a range of between 19% and 29%.
Headline earnings show the impact of increased finance costs, driven by interest rate increases and short-term funding, to accommodate increased working capital levels during the year to support revenue growth, it said. It added that it remains well capitalised.
Basic earnings in 2022, meanwhile, had been affected by impairments on property, plant and equipment and the right of use of assets, operational losses as well as a deferred tax write-off associated with AECI Schirm in Germany.
Shares in AECI, valued at about R10 billion on the JSE, have gained about 2% in the year to date. - Fin24
Tough half-year for SasolSasol has reported that volatile commodity prices weighed on it in its six months to end-December, when revenue and headline earnings fell just over a third to about R15.9 billion and R12.8 billion respectively.
A tough outlook for commodity prices, as well as Eskom tariffs, also helped prompt impairments, notably R3.9 billion for its Secunda liquid fuels refinery. The group cut its interim dividend by 71% to R2 per share.
It said that “whilst we are well positioned to benefit from a turn in the chemicals cycle at this stage, we need to keep absolutely focused on our priorities, to step up cash flow generation to make sure, that we maintain the robust balance sheet needed to cope in these extremely uncertain times.” Sasol’s shares have lost about 46% in the past 12 months. – Fin24