BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF
Pick n Pay sets out R4bn offer terms in retailer revampPick n Pay Stores set out the terms of a R4 billion rights offer that forms part of a revamp of South Africa’s third-biggest grocer by revenue. The Cape Town-based company will offer 252.2 million shares at R15.86 each, it said in a statement Thursday. That’s 42% less than the closing price on July 10. Ackerman Investment Holdings, the holding company for the family of Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman, has committed to following its rights up to R1.01 billion. Other shareholders have also said they will take part in the offer; together with AIH, they hold about 45% of the shares in issue currently.
The rights offer will be followed by an initial public offering of Pick n Pay’s low-cost Boxer business, likely by the end of this year.
As part of a three-year turnaround plan, Sean Summers — whom the company abruptly brought back as chief executive officer last year — also is sifting out under-performing stores from about 100 outlets that may be converted, refurbished or closed as part of the South African grocer’s strategy to return to profitability.
-BLOOMBERG-
Distressed cargo ship now ashore off Cape coast
The distressed cargo ship, the MV Ultra Galaxy, has gone aground off the coast of Brand se Baai on the West Coast, 385 kilometres north of Cape Town. The vessel, which was abandoned by its crew of 18 Filipino seafarers after developing an excessive list, grounded at approximately 10pm on Tuesday, according to a media statement the South African Marine Safety Authority (Samsa) issued on Wednesday.
“Efforts are now concentrated on preventing a fuel and oil spill, as well as to salvage its cargo. The rescue effort of the 18-member crew of the Panama-flagged cargo vessel started early Tuesday morning following an alert from the vessel about 60 nautical miles west of Doringbaai. They were found in a life raft after abandoning the vessel, which got into trouble. All crew members were accounted for and safely aboard a fishing boat, the FV Malachite, which arrived safely in St Helena Bay on Tuesday.
The Panama-registered MV Ultra Galaxy is a 124.56-metre-long general cargo vessel built in 2008, according to a report published on the Samsa website. At the time of its distress call, it was reportedly on its way to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, according to Samsa.
Transnet says it is continuously monitoring operations at the ports of Cape Town, Saldanha, Port Elizabeth and Ngqura amid adverse weather conditions in certain parts of the country. “Strong winds reaching 35-50 knots and high sea swells exceeding 3.5 meters have led to shipping movements being suspended at some ports for safety reasons,” the state-owned entity said in a media statement issued late on Tuesday.
-MONEYWEB-
Amazon’s total emissions fell in 2023 as it meets renewable power goal
E-commerce giant Amazon's overall emissions fell 3% last year as the company met a goal for all of the electricity it consumes globally to be matched with renewable power, it said on Wednesday. The power used and emissions created by technology giants are under scrutiny as the growth of AI increases electricity consumption.
Amazon has a goal to reach net zero carbon by 2040 and in 2019 set a target to match 100% of its electricity consumption with renewable power by 2030 which it has now met. Amazon's total emissions were 68.82 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023, down from 70.74 million tons the previous year, it said in its annual sustainability report. Amazon's total emissions include those generated from its supply chain, third party logistics and purchased electricity.
Emissions from the company's direct operations, rose 7% to 14.27 million tons which Amazon said was due to an increase in the number of packages delivered by its in-house logistics team and overall business growth. This figure also includes its data centres.
-REUTERS-
AI frenzy takes Taiwan's TSMC to record peak, puts it in trillion dollar club
Taiwan's TSMC scaled a record high on Thursday after posting strong second-quarter revenue on booming demand for AI applications, cementing its position as Asia's most valuable company.
TSMC also topped a trillion dollar market value this week. The AI frenzy has sparked a rally in chipmaker stocks across the globe. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include AI poster child Nvidia has especially benefited from the soaring demand for AI-capable chips.
AI-focused companies, mostly chipmakers, have had a good run this year and saw big gains in market capitalization in June. Nvidia briefly overtook Microsoft last month to become the world's most valuable company. Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple all have market values above $3 trillion. TSMC's strong results lifted global chip stocks, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index rising 2.4% to a record on Wednesday.
-REUTERS-
Apple lets rivals use tap-and-go payments as EU's Vestager warns on tech charges
Apple will open its tap-and-go mobile payments system to rivals, EU antitrust regulator said on Thursday, even as its chief Margrethe Vestager said the iPhone maker has yet to change its business practices to comply with landmark tech rules.
The company faces three investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires Big Tech to ensure a level playing field for rivals and give users more choice.
Vestager last month said its App Store rules breached the DMA and also kicked off a probe into new contractual terms for app developers and rival app stores.
She said she has not seen any move by Apple to comply with the DMA since then.
"What I can say so far is that we have not seen a change in behaviour on Apple's side when it comes to our preliminary findings," Vestager told a press conference.
"I would have hoped so because I think it will be beneficial for consumers and customers and of course respectful to the legislator to discuss in depth what would be expected from gatekeepers," she said.
Apple's tap-and-go technology called near-field communication, or NFC, allows for contactless payments with mobile wallets. It will now allow developers to access its NFC to pre-build payment apps for rival mobile vallet providers.
Apple said its offer would give European developers an option to enable tap-and-go payments for car keys, closed loop transit, corporate badges, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty/rewards, and event tickets from within their iOS apps.
-REUTERS-