Company news in brief
Chinese get green light to buy OsinoThe Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) has approved the transaction whereby Shanjin International Gold (formerly Yintai Gold) will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Osino Resources, owner of the Twin Hills Gold Project in Namibia.
Shanjin paid 368 million Canadian dollars in total for the shares, roughly N$4.8 billion.
Osino intends to build Namibia’s third gold mine at Twin Hills.
The Twin Hills Gold Project, located near Karibib in Namibia, is on track to create approximately 1 000 new jobs in the Erongo region, Osino said in its latest Sustainability Report.
Since 2017, Osino has invested a total of around N$982 million in Namibia.
MTN books almost R10bn loss
Africa's largest mobile operator MTN said yesterday it suffered a roughly R14 billion negative profits swing in its half-year to end June, when it was hit by conflicts, currency volatility, and grew its South African service revenue by less than inflation.
But MTN said it was pleased with some underlying operating trends, including fintech revenue growing by over a quarter in constant terms.
The group reported a loss after tax of about R9.7 billion to end June from a profit of about R4.4 billion previously, notably hit by a depreciation of the Nigerian naira, which contributed most to R16 billion in net foreign exchange losses.
The group also felt pressure due to a conflict in Sudan, which is suffering fuel shortages, power outages and network disruptions, and its total subscribers edged up 0.8% to 288 million. Excluding Sudan, and MTN's exit from Afghanistan, subscribers rose 3.2%.
Group service revenue fell just over a fifth to R85.3 billion during the period, though in constant-currency terms, or excluding the effects of foreign-exchange movements, it rose 12%.
In South Africa, however, service revenue only increased 3.3% to about R21 billion, with outgoing service revenue falling 5.5%, while data revenue rose 4%. - Fin24
Absa keeps its dividend steady
Absa has reported a drop in interim profit on the same day it said CEO Arrie Rautenbach had agreed to take early retirement.
South Africa's fourth-largest bank by market value said yesterday that profit attributable to ordinary shareholders fell 9% to about R9.8 billion in the six months to end-June, while headline earnings, which exclude once-off items, fell 5% to about R10 billion.
Absa nevertheless declared a R6.85 per share interim dividend, unchanged from the previous half-year.
On a geographic basis, South African headline earnings decreased 7% to about R6.6 billion, while the group's rest of Africa operations declined 1% to almost R3.6 billion, and accounting for 35%.
The performance of the group's regional operations in Africa was largely due to currency depreciation against the rand, and excluding this effect, the African operations' earnings were up 4%.
Absa's return on equity (ROE) dropped from 15.7% in the first half of 2023 to 14%, as its net asset value increased by 6% to R149 billion.
Credit impairment charges were flat at R8.3 billion, resulting in a credit loss ratio of 1.23% from 1.27%. - Fin24
Thungela slashes dividend
Coal miner Thungela Resources has slashed its dividend by 80% after its interim earnings more than halved as a result of lower coal prices, and it focused a little more on share buybacks.
The miner cut the half-year dividend to R2 per share (R281 million), down from R10 previously, after its profit fell 61% to about R1.2 billion in the six months to end June.
During the period energy prices continued to fall, mainly driven by the milder European and Northeast Asian winter season, which resulted in elevated coal and gas stock levels.
The group, however, bolstered shareholder returns in the form of share buybacks of up to R160 million, bringing total returns to R441 million for its first half.
Altogether, this constitutes almost 50% of operating free cash flow, much higher than the policy to return at least 30%, it noted.
Shares of the company were up more than 3% in morning trade yesterday, though they have still fallen just over 6% in the past year. - Fin24