Provision for fines raised by R20m

Basil Read had raised a provision for penalties imposed by the Competition Commission by an additional R20 million in the six months to June, to increase the total provision for these penalties to R95m, the listed construction group said yesterday. The group agreed to pay a penalty of R94.9m in terms of a settlement agreement reached with the commission under the construction industry fast-track settlement process. This settlement was confirmed by the Competition Tribunal last month but the group is also implicated in four cases that did not form part of the fast-track process, which have not yet been finalised. It expected headline earnings for the six months to June to be as much as 200 percent higher. The shares gained 13.03 percent to R7.46. – Roy Cokayne

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CITY LODGE: The hotel group is preparing for major expansion into Africa and locally after a year to June in which average room occupancy was up by 3 percentage points to 62 percent, revenue by 11 percent to R975.9 million and normalised headline earnings by 32 percent to R252.2m. The final dividend of R1.75 made for a total of R3.51 for the year, up 31 percent. The group’s investment in Kenya through shared ownership of the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi made its first contribution of R13.6m after tax. – Audrey D’Angelo

VUNANI PROPERTY INVESTMENT FUND: The listed property fund yesterday reported a 19.7 percent growth in distributions to 77.25c a linked unit for the year to June after it paid 39.25c a linked unit for the half-year to June. The fund attributed the increase to tight management of assets and yield accretionary acquisitions and said these factors were likely to last. – Roy Cokayne

NORTHERN HARDWARE AND GLASS: A provisional consent agreement between Northern Hardware and Glass, a member of a cartel in the glass industry, and the Competition Commission was confirmed by the Competition Tribunal yesterday. The company agreed to pay a penalty of R214 530.53 for colluding with rivals. – Roy Cokayne