Author: Gugu Lourie

The Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers, Prosus raised R32.8 billion ($2 billion) in a bond offering on Tuesday. The company said the funds would be used for general corporate purposes, including potential future mergers and acquisitions activity, and to further augment the company’s liquidity position. The company said in a statement that the offerings attracted strong investor demand, with US dollar notes more than seven times subscribed and euro debut notes more than eleven times subscribed on the eight year notes and twelve times subscribed on the twelve year notes. “It is expected that this financing will…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Wednesday said it would impose a public censure and fine of R7.5 million on struggling tech firm EOH Group due to non-compliance with its listing requirements. “EOH’s previously published financial information for the periods 2017 to 2018 did not comply with IFRS and was incorrect, false and misleading in material aspects and this incorrect information was disseminated to shareholders, the JSE and the investing public,”  the JSE said in a statement. “For these reasons and with reference to the JSE’s findings of breach, the JSE has decided to impose a public censure and the…

Anushka Bogdanov, the lead independent non-executive director of EOH and chairperson of the Social and Ethics Committee, has resigned from the board of the company. Bogdanov resigned from the board of directors of EOH with immediate effect. “A process to appoint a new lead independent non-executive director and chairperson of the Social & Ethics Committee is underway and shareholders will be advised of such appointments in due course,” EOH said in a statement. “The board of directors of EOH would like to thank Ms Bogdanov for her contribution to EOH over the past year and wishes her well in her…

5G – the fifth-generation wireless network – is about astounding speeds and almost zero latency – the lag time between when your phone pings the network and when it responds. After years of anticipation and a considerable amount of hype, 5G is finally in South Africa. With 5G you can download movies in seconds and YouTube clips instantly plus experience lag-free real-time gaming. MTN recently launched its 5G network with 100 sites in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. The launch was made possible, in part, by the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by the…

The rapid roll-out of more online food shopping capacity has helped South Africa’s retailer Woolworths report soaring sales over the lockdown period. The South African government has announced a national lockdown that requires the closure of non-essential businesses between 27 March 2020 and 16 April 2020 and has implemented various regulations and directives which have impacted the way Woolworths does business. The country is currently on lockdown at level 3. South Africa began easing restrictions at the beginning of May 2020. “Woolworths Food continued its positive momentum into the last nine weeks of H2, growing sales by 16.1%, as the…

MTN, Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone group, expects profits to surge in the first half, boosted by foreign exchange gains. The company said on Friday that its headline earnings per share (HEPS) will be at least 195 cents or 100% higher, representing HEPS of greater than 390 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2020, compared with HEPS of 195 cents in the previous year. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The South African-based operator said HEPS benefited from non-operational items for the six months totalling 50 cents per share (June 2019: 55 cents negative…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has paid out more than R2.2 billion to applicants of the R350 COVID-19 grant. President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed late on Thursday that the over 4.4 million people have now received the special COVID-19 grant, which assists those who are unemployed and do not receive other forms of support. “So far, an amount of R2.2 billion has been paid out to these recipients,” he explained. “There were delays in paying this amount but future payments will be made more quickly now that the necessary systems are in place. “As we announced, this grant will…

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced late on Thursday that all public schools will take a break for four weeks. “As South Africa approaches its peak of COVID-19 infections, we must take the cautious approach to prevent schools from becoming sites of transmission,” said Ramaphosa, adding that  more than 6,000 people had died of COVID-19, and 408,052 infections had been confirmed. Ramaphosa was speaking during an address to the nation on Thursday night. “Taking into account the views of the various stakeholders and expert bodies, Cabinet has decided that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks.” This…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on Thursday promised to make double payments for the R350 COVID-19 grant. The agency said in a statement that it has started with double payments for outstanding June and July accounts for the R350 special relief grant. “This meant to avoid a situation where beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant have to make two trips to the Post Office and to eradicate the backlog of payments. The move was met with much appreciation and excitement on social media this morning,” the agency said. SASSA added that it also reconsidered applications made…

Vodacom – South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator – announced on Thursday that its customer base was down by 9.9%, mainly driven by reduced gross connections in the prepaid segment during the period of restricted movement. The lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike in virus infections. Lockdown Level 5 was introduced in South Africa on 26 March 2020 and now the country is in Level 3. Vodacom announced on Thursday announced its trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2020. The company said…