Travel opens up a bit more, Steinhoff slapped with big fine by JSE

SA reduced the number of countries on its highrisk Covid-19 list by more than half, to 22 from 60, the government said, although Germany was among the notable additions to the register. The government has said it would revise the list of banned countries every two weeks. The latest list still includes the US, the UK, France, Belgium and Spain, as well as Russia, Brazil and India.

INVESTMENT

group Long4Life, which owns beauty chain Sorbet and Chill Beverages, said its focus on its cash flow had helped to ensure a marginal half-year profit even as Covid-19 disrupted trading. The group reported profit of R7.56m from profit of R131.3m previously, while revenue fell almost a quarter to R1.42bn.

STOR-AGE

Property, the only listed personal storage provider in SA, reached an agreement with real estate investor Moorfield to develop self-storage assets in the UK through a joint venture.

RETAIL

group Steinhoff was fined R13.5m by the JSE, the largest ever imposed by the bourse, after an investigation into breaches of listing requirements. The JSE said it had imposed the maximum R7.5m fine for incorrect, false and misleading statements. It also imposed a R5m fine for failing to disclose the disposal of Steinhoff Global Investments in 2015, and a R1m fine for the sale of operational rights related to its then Austrian subsidiary, Kika-Leiner.

STATE

arms firm Denel said it faced a funding gap of about R2.75bn over the next five years for key capabilities such as ammunition production. Denel has long been in the throes of a liquidity crisis which has been aggravated by the pandemic.

PROPERTY

group Calgro M3 reported that interim revenue fell almost a quarter after Covid-19 halted construction activity for two months and resulted in additional costs.