Company News in Brief
Purple Group flags headline earnings between 194% and 213%Purple Group, the owner of retail trading platform EasyEquities, flagged a between 194% and 213% surge in headline earnings per share for its six months to end February, but didn't go into details. The group had been recovering from a tough 2023 in the prior comparative period, returning to profit, while it had also generated recorded revenue and reported record quarterly deposits. It had booked headline earnings of R11 million in the six months to end February 2024 and has been on a drive to introduce new products. In somewhat volatile trade, the group was up about 3% on Friday afternoon, having gained over 50% on a one-year basis. -FIN24
Tongaat given leeway to oppose business rescue
Sugar producer Tongaat announced that Mozambican group RGS, which had seen its bid to urgently interdict the group's business rescue plan dismissed in February, has opted to proceed with part B of its case and supplemented its founding affidavit on 30 March. Tongaat and its business rescue practitioners have until 11 April to deliver their notice of intention to oppose and until 8 May to deliver their answering affidavit. This comes after the Vision consortium, whose rescue plan was adopted in early 2024, announced this week it has secured credit approval to meet the balance of their payment obligations to the lender group, with this now due at the end of April. -FIN24
G4S to get new owners
A South African company owned by a former G4S director has been given approval by the Competition Commission to acquire the multinational security giant's local cash-in-transit (CIT) business. G4S Cash Solutions' main acquiring company, Izi Africa, is a special purpose entity created for the acquisition. Its owner, Amajuba Management Solutions Proprietary Limited, also runs Izi Cash, which provides CIT and ATM services in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, George, Gqeberha, Rustenburg and eMalahleni. -FIN24
Amazon to launch Project Kuiper on next week
Amazon is preparing to launch its first full batch of Project Kuiper satellites next week, marking a crucial milestone in the tech giant's bid to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink. The mission, named Kuiper Atlas 1, will launch 27 satellites using an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, April 9, Amazon said. The deployment will be carried out by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) industrial group, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. According to a statement from Amazon, the satellites represent a significant upgrade from the two prototype satellites successfully tested during a mission in October 2023. Like Starlink, the service is designed to provide internet access to even the most remote and underserved areas around the world, including war zones or disaster-struck areas. Project Kuiper aims to deliver "high-speed, low-latency internet to virtually any location on the planet," with service expected to begin later this year, according to Amazon. - AFP