Capitec sees increase in earnings to R16.66bn
◆ Capitec Bank Holdings: The banking company, in its financial year 2020 results, indicated that its net income rose to R16.66 billion from R14.57bn the previous year. Its diluted earnings per share increased 18.2 percent from the prior year to R53.91. Capitec has not declared a final dividend after the South African Reserve Bank recommended that banks shore up their balance sheets due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
◆ Remgro: The financial services company announced that its management has voluntarily decided to forgo 30 percent of their salaries for April, May and June. The savings will be paid to the Sukuma Relief Programme, an initiative supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. ◆ Pan African Resources: The gold mining company announced that it has obtained authorisation from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to conduct surface re-mining and processing activities on a reduced scale.
◆ Alexander Forbes to sell Namibia insurance unit to Momentum: South Africa’s largest pension fund administrator, Alexander Forbes, has entered into an agreement to dispose of the last of its short-term insurance business to Momentum Holdings.
◆ Shareholders to enjoy fruit of PSG Konsult investments: Investment group PSG Konsult has declared a double-digit dividend, saying it is beginning to see the benefits of investment in systems such as software used for trading.
◆ Cell C and M4Jam offers R2 million to gig-economy workers: South Africa’s thirdlargest mobile operator, Cell C, has partnered with micro-jobs platform M4Jam to provide South Africans having difficulty earning an income during the national lockdown with a chance to make some extra money, through a R2m project. Cell C has also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Competition Commission on the implementation of mobile industry measures to improve data access and increase pricing transparency for consumers. ◆ Telkom agrees to cut wholesale broadband prices: Fixed-line operator Telkom has reached an agreement with the Competition Commission substantially to reduce wholesale broadband access costs, the commission said.
◆ Probe by US hurts British American Tobacco (BAT) share: BAT is the subject of a US criminal investigation over suspected sanctions-busting, The Times reported, sending the company’s shares down more than 5 percent.
◆ Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) halves dividend: The world’s largest brewer, AB InBev, intends to save about €1bn (about R20.3bn) by proposing halving its final dividend, as it battles uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.