COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Shoprite, Checkers post strong salesShoprite's share price jumped more than 3% and is trading close to its highest level in a year, after the company reported strong sales growth, and a large increase in prices.
Including LiquorShop sales, its South African supermarkets delivered 19.9% growth in the three months to end-September. Selling prices were 8.2% higher than a year before.
The group, which includes Checkers and OK stores, noted that the strong growth was due in part to a low base in the same quarter last year, when civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal closed 231 stores. Also, in the same quarter last year, its LiquorShop stores couldn't operate for 48 out of 91 trading days due to lockdown restrictions.
Shoprite warned that the 56% increase in fuel costs over the past year is hitting its costs, with intensive Stage 5 and 6 load shedding demanding increased generator use - adding R100 million to its monthly spending on diesel.
Supermarket sales in the rest of the Africa grew by 18.8%. Furniture sales were up 5%.
Shoprite says it is "well stocked" ahead of the festive season and that the Transnet strike didn't affect supplies.
The group opened 46 stores in South Africa during the quarter: seven Checkers stores, one Checkers Hyper, two Shoprite, 10 Usave, 18 LiquorShop, four Petshop Science, three Checkers Little Me and one Checkers Outdoor store.
But on the rest of the continent, store growth was limited to a net of one new store (three new stores in Namibia were opened, while one store closed in Namibia and Malawi respectively.-Fin24
Premier Group set to list on JSE
Investment company Brait, whose largest shareholder is Christo Wiese, has announced plans to spin off and separately list Premier Group, in an initial public offering (IPO) that would value the fast-moving consumer goods group at as much as R8.6 billion.
Brait, which currently holds 99% of Premier, would price the shares at between R53.82 and R67.04 per offer share, an equity valuation of between R6.9 billion and R8.9 billion, and representing between a 10% and 28% discount to Brait's latest valuation of the firm.
Premier is a fast-moving consumer goods group with roots dating back to 1820, and its brands include Blue Ribbon bread, Snowflake flour, Iwisa maize meal, Super C sweets, and Lil-lets SA, which produces feminine hygiene products.
Along with recent dividends, the move would result in about a R4.7 billion cash inflow for Brait, which is still reeling from the effects of Covid-19, which hit gym chain Virgin Active hard. Currently, Premier makes up about 54% of Brait's R19 billion in total assets by Virgin Active at 41%.
Wiese's Titan Cornerstone Investments has undertaken to purchase 36.2% of the listing shares, while Rand Merchant Bank has agreed to acquire 2.4%. Both have also agreed to underwrite the offer to the tune of R3.5 billion, with Titan representing R3 billion of this amount. "The underwrite significantly de-risks the IPO and demonstrates Titan's confidence in the Premier business," said Brait.-Fin24
PetroSA found leak in offshore pipeline
PetroSA has announced that evidence of a leak was found in a condensate pipeline that runs from the offshore FA platform to the GTL refinery in Mossel Bay.
"The leak was observed on the onshore section in the vicinity of Nautilus Bay at approximately 90m elevation and approximately 500m away from the shoreline," the company said in a statement.
"The quantity of leaked material, and the extent of contamination is as yet unknown. Further investigative work is required to determine the exact location of the leak and define the appropriate repair and remediation strategies."
PetroSA said public health and safety, as well as mitigating any environmental impacts, are its "top priority" and "all appropriate measures" will be taken to minimise and remediate impacts.
It added that "no immediate threats to public health are anticipated". - Fin24
DBSA, EIB to extend R7.2bn in loans
As much as 1 200 MW of new renewable energy generation projects can be added across South Africa, through a new lending programme by the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the European Investment Bank.
The €400 million or R7.2 billion initiative was agreed to on the side-lines of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Friday, by EIB vice president Ambroise Fayolle and DBSA CEO Patrick Dlamini.
The funding is for the DBSA's existing Embedded Generation Investment Programme for solar PV and wind projects, which is co-financed by the Green Climate Fund.
The EIB is contributing €200 million (R3.7 billion), while the DBSA and the Green Climate Find are providing €100 million (R1.8 billion) each. The Green Climate Fund exists to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions – as a means of climate change mitigation.
The new credit lines would help bolster generation capacity in the country, which is facing an energy crisis, while avoiding 3.6 million tons of carbon emissions.
"The projects it will finance are expected to create hundreds of new jobs during construction and operation and support local companies," the DBSA and EIB said in a joint statement on Friday.
Fayolle said the agreement is the largest ever EIB investment in South Africa. It follows investments in other renewable energy and climate adaptation projects. Dlamini shared that the DBSA has a "clear goal" to improve energy security and to invest in renewable energy in South Africa and the rest of the continent. He noted that South Africa and other African countries are already suffering the effects of climate change.-Fin24
FTX sees mysterious outflow of over R10bn
Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt digital-asset exchange FTX was hit by a mysterious outflow of about US$662 million (R10.3 billion) in tokens in the past 24 hours, the latest twist in one of the darkest periods for the crypto industry.
Customers still coming to terms with the platform’s Friday plunge into Chapter 11 proceedings were subsequently confronted with what the general counsel of its US arm, Ryne Miller, described as “abnormalities with wallet movements.”
Miller said on Twitter that FTX had begun moving digital assets into cold storage — wallets that are unconnected to the internet — following its bankruptcy filing on Friday. The process was later expedited “to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorised transactions.”
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen, which gave the overall estimate of US$662 million in withdrawals, said the coins flowed out of both FTX’s international and US exchanges. A separate analysis by Elliptic stated that initial indications showed almost US$475 million had been stolen from the exchange in illicit transactions, with the stablecoins and other tokens that were taken being rapidly converted to Ether on decentralized exchanges — “a common technique used by hackers in order to prevent their haul being seized.”
Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at stablecoin issuer Tether, referenced a tweet suggesting it had blacklisted more than US$30 million of the “FTX attacker’s” holdings in its USDT token.-Fin24
Netflix takes on live streaming with Rock
Netflix will stream an event live for the first time next year, with comedian Chris Rock hosting a real-time special for the on-demand platform that has lured millions of viewers away from traditional broadcast television.
The comedy show, which will be Rock's second for Netflix after 2018's "Chris Rock: Tamborine," will be available to watch in early 2023, the company said, without providing further details.
"Chris Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation," said Netflix comedy vice-president Robbie Praw, in a statement.
"We're thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be a part of Netflix history.
"This will be an unforgettable moment and we're so honored that Chris is carrying this torch."
Netflix, which lost subscribers for the first time earlier this year before recently reporting a return to growth, has been experimenting with new models, including a cheaper subscription option subsidized by advertisements.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix was looking into offering live sports on its platform for the first time.-Fin24