Mastercard buys stake in MTN fintech; Sappi covered in red ink

MASTERCARD has invested R3.8bn in MTN’s fintech business in exchange for a minority stake in the unit. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, values the unit at $5.2bn (R99bn), giving Mastercard a stake of just under 4% in the business. MTN has 63.5million monthly active fintech users across 16 markets. Growth is driven by its businesses in Ghana, Uganda, Benin, Cameroon and Rwanda.

The fintech business offers mobile money, insurance, airtime, lending and ecommerce.

MONDI is considering a possible all share combination with UKlisted DS Smith, a move that would create an industry leader in European paper-based sustainable packaging solutions. Mondi believes the merged entity will be well positioned to benefit from structural growth trends in sustainable packaging. Still, the company said it isn’t certain an offer will be made to acquire DS Smith, which provides paper and packing products in more than 30 countries.

UBER Technologies forecast quarterly core profit and gross bookings above estimates and reported market-beating results for the holiday quarter, fuelled by higher demand in its ridesharing and food delivery businesses. Uber, which posted its first full-year profit on a net basis, is expanding initiatives such as memberships, corporate travel and advertising.

SAPPI swung to a loss in the three months ended December as sales volumes across its product categories came under pressure — which was worsened by scheduled maintenance shutdowns at the Saiccor, Ngodwana and Cloquet mills. The company incurred a loss of $126m (R2.4bn) during the October-December quarter compared with a profit of $190m in the same period a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, or core profit, almost halved to $156m after group sales fell 23%.

ITALTILE, which owns CTM and U-Light, expects headline earnings per share to decline by between 13.1% and 17% to as low as 65.8c for the six months to end December due to a slowdown in sales volumes. A pandemic induced surge in demand for home improvement saw the group report improved profits and declare record interim dividends until June 2022, but South Africa’s biggest retailer and manufacturer of tiles, bathroomware and related products has since been struggling to match that performance.

ANGLO American Platinum (Amplats) expects annual profit to slump as much as 77% because of a 35% drop in the average basket price of platinum group metals, particularly palladium and rhodium. Headline earnings per share are forecast at between R42.16 and R60.77 for the year ended December, compared with R185.42 in the same period a year earlier.