Author: Gugu Lourie

Today, South African retailer Mr Price reported lower credit sales and increased write-offs in its Financial Services business, pushing the segment revenue lower. The retailer said Financial Services business revenue decreased 14.5% to R653 million in the year to end April. The Financial Services segment manages Mr Price’s trade receivables and sells financial services products “Lower credit sales, increased write-offs, lower interest rates and fewer new account approvals, all results of COVID-19 consumer impact, affected performance,” the company said. “The total debtors’ book decreased 14.0% to R2 billion, and the group’s impairment provision increased to 13.4% of the debtors’ book…

South African retailer Mr Price, which uses cellular handsets and accessories to drive footfall traffic into its stores and online platforms, reported strong growth from its telecoms segment in the year to end-April 2021. The company said online traffic increased 65.7%  in the year to end-April 2021, with 86.4% of this traffic generated from mobile devices, placing the brand firmly in the hands of its customers. Today, the JSE-listed retailer reported that its Telecoms Business grew 11.6% to R862 million in the year to end-April, driven by cellular growing 35.9% and gaining 90 basis points (bps) of market share according to GfK. Double-digit…

Amazon is buying MGM, the studio behind Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull and Robocop. The online retailer is spending $8,45 billion (R116 billion) to buy MGM Studios. The retailer owns Amazon Prime and this deal will complement the video streaming company. MGM’s vast library has over 4,000 beloved film titles, including 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many other icons. MGM has nearly a…

Telkom Mobile, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, wants to upend the prepaid mobile data market through affordable packages as part of its strategy to deliver value to its customers. In an interview with TechFinancials, Serame Taukobong, Telkom Consumer’s CEO, said Telkom Mobile was well-positioned for the prepaid mobile data space. “It’s about looking at the entire value chain. Most of the people don’t have the money to buy the 1GB mobile data,” said Taukobong. Telkom Mobile broadband traffic increased 53.2% to 942 petabytes in the year to end-March 2021, resulting in mobile data revenue growing by 41% to R12,2 billion…

Telkom’s Yep, a digital marketplace where customers can safely and confidently search and purchase from small, trusted businesses, is gaining traction with small businesses. “As at 31 March 2021, there were over 25 335 downloads across the Google Play, Apple and Huawei stores, with the desktop version attracting an average of 337 827 users per month,” according to the company’s results presentation. Last June, the company announced the launch of its latest innovation, Yep, on Google Play and Apple’s app store. The app is geared toward economic sustainability, creating a long-term future for small businesses. Users can locate businesses or…

aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture between MTN and SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan, saw unique customers enrolled grew 14% to 11.4 million as of 31 March 2021. Momentum Metropolitan disclosed the figures in its operational update for the nine months ended 31 March 2021. The insurer also said aYo is making steady progress in Ghana and Uganda. Following its Zambian launch, aYo achieved a 10 million enrolled customer milestone. aYo provides you with fast, convenient and easy to use insurance right on your cell phone. You enjoy hospital and life insurance cover through airtime deduction (Recharge with Care) or when you send MoMo (mobile…

Telkom announced today that its WhatsApp-Based Digital Wallet, Telkom Pay has attracted thousands of customers. Telkom Pay was launched last December to offer customers the ability to pay others and get paid themselves using their mobile phone through the WhatsApp messaging app to anyone on their contacts list. Sipho Maseko, the Telkom CEO, said on Monday that Telkom Pay digital wallet is progressing well with over 10, 000 subscribers. “It’s a good foundation to grow this platform significantly.” Telkom Pay also serves as a cashless Point of Sale (POS) payment option for businesses. Users with WhatsApp can add Telkom Pay on…

Telkom reported a 53.4% rise in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 561.5 cents a share for the year to end-March 2021, driven chiefly by the consistent performance of its mobile business. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. “A large portion of our growth is driven by the mobile business which has consistently outperformed expectations in the last five years,” Sipho Maseko, Telkom CEO, said on Monday. “We expect the mobile business to continue with its growth trajectory in absolute service revenue terms continuing to be the driver of growth, offsetting the decline in fixed voice which now contributes…

Openserve, Telkom’s network division, today reported that homes passed with fibre rose by 20.7% to 549 957 for the year to end-March 2021. The company attributed this to the need to consume multiple digital services, leading to increased data consumption, driven by a surge in data traffic across fixed fibre and carrier connectivity solutions. However, Telkom reported losing 318,000 fixed-line subscribers to 1.284 million in March 2021 versus 1.602 million in March 2020. As expected, Telkom also reported a significant decline in fixed broadband subscribers, dropping to 605,807 in March 2021 compared to 686,525 in March 2020. Also read: How Telkom is Slowly…

Balwin – a specialist, national residential property developer of large-scale, sectional title estates for South Africa’s growing low-to-middle income population – is synonymous with secure, affordable, high quality and environmentally-friendly developments. Apartments are designed to appeal to a wide range of home buyers, catering for a first-time, young professional, young family, older family, retirees, as well as buy-to-let investors. The company’s apartments include modern fitted kitchens, prepaid water and solar-assisted electricity, eco-friendly fittings and appliances, and fibre-enabled. The developer generates annuity income through subsidiary company Balwin Fibre which provides high-speed fibre connectivity to homeowners within Balwin’s estates. In 2017, the…