COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Eskom burned enough diesel to fill nearly 42 million Toyota Hilux bakkies in five years



MYBROADBAND



Over its past five financial years, Eskom has spent nearly R65 billion on diesel to run its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) — enough to fill nearly 42 million Toyota Hilux bakkies.



This is according to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who revealed the information in response to parliamentary questions from Democratic Alliance MP Farhat Essack.



Eskom’s OCGTs are “peaking” power stations — expensive but able to rapidly dispatch electricity during emergencies to ensure the grid’s stability.



It has been running these plants heavily in recent years to decrease and avoid load-shedding.



The power utility’s diesel spending in the 2020 and 2021 financial years was similar at R5.80 billion and R5.75 billion, respectively.



It took a significant step up during the 2022 financial year when it spent R8.60 billion on diesel. However, this was substantially less than it spent in the following two years.



Eskom spent R21.25 billion on diesel to run its OCGTs in the 2023 financial year, and this increased further to R23.38 billion in 2024, bringing its total for the five years to R64.78 billion.



Over its past five financial years, Eskom has spent nearly R65 billion on diesel to run its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) — enough to fill nearly 42 million Toyota Hilux bakkies.



This is according to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who revealed the information in response to parliamentary questions from Democratic Alliance MP Farhat Essack.



Eskom’s OCGTs are “peaking” power stations — expensive but able to rapidly dispatch electricity during emergencies to ensure the grid’s stability.



It has been running these plants heavily in recent years to decrease and avoid load-shedding.



The power utility’s diesel spending in the 2020 and 2021 financial years was similar at R5.80 billion and R5.75 billion, respectively.



It took a significant step up during the 2022 financial year when it spent R8.60 billion on diesel. However, this was substantially less than it spent in the following two years.



Eskom spent R21.25 billion on diesel to run its OCGTs in the 2023 financial year, and this increased further to R23.38 billion in 2024, bringing its total for the five years to R64.78 billion.



Over its past five financial years, Eskom has spent nearly R65 billion on diesel to run its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) — enough to fill nearly 42 million Toyota Hilux bakkies.



This is according to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who revealed the information in response to parliamentary questions from Democratic Alliance MP Farhat Essack.



Eskom’s OCGTs are “peaking” power stations — expensive but able to rapidly dispatch electricity during emergencies to ensure the grid’s stability.



It has been running these plants heavily in recent years to decrease and avoid load-shedding.



The power utility’s diesel spending in the 2020 and 2021 financial years was similar at R5.80 billion and R5.75 billion, respectively.



It took a significant step up during the 2022 financial year when it spent R8.60 billion on diesel. However, this was substantially less than it spent in the following two years.



Eskom spent R21.25 billion on diesel to run its OCGTs in the 2023 financial year, and this increased further to R23.38 billion in 2024, bringing its total for the five years to R64.78 billion.



South African cryptocurrency exchange VALR targets global expansion



REUTERS



South Africa's largest cryptocurrency exchange VALR will now offer crypto asset services in Poland and is eyeing other jurisdictions across the globe, in hopes to take on some of world's crypto giants, its CEO told



VALR is one of 75 crypto asset service providers that were recently granted licences this year by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to operate in South Africa, a key step in making crypto a mainstream investment option and creating a regulated environment for users.



Founded in 2018, VALR offers spot trading, margin trading, perpetual futures and staking products to its over 600,000 retail customers and over 1,000 institutional customers across South Africa and globally.

About 75% of its customers are from South Africa, while 25% are from all over the world and VALR wants to increase this share of clients from outside South Africa, Chief Executive Farzam Ehsani told Reuters in an interview.



Where there is regulatory clarity in other jurisdictions, VALR will look for licences there as well, including in Africa, where Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Egypt are on its radar.

VALR had been eyeing Nigeria for a long time but Nigerian authorities made a U-turn earlier this year, blocking access to crypto exchanges in a country-wide crackdown on exchanges that have been blamed by authorities for feeding a black market for foreign exchange.



Australian retailer Woolworths to sell US$303 million stake in Endeavour Group



REUTERS



Australian retailer Woolworths said on Wednesday that it would sell a 5% stake worth A$468 million ($302.84 million) in Endeavour Group, almost three years after spinning out the liquor store and pub operator.

The sale will happen via a block trade at a price of A$5.22 per share, Australia's largest supermarket operator said, adding that it would now own about 4.1% of Endeavour, which it spun out as a separate company in 2021.



Shares of Woolworths slipped 0.4%, while those of Endeavour were down 5% in early trade.

Woolworths said it would use the proceeds from the selldown to return capital to its investors and provide an update in its full-year results on August 28.

The grocer in January indicated that it no longer had "significant influence" over Endeavour after conducting a review on the 9.1% stake it held.

"We no longer believe that a material equity investment in Endeavour Group is required," Woolworths' outgoing CEO Brad Banducci said in a statement on Wednesday.