Company News in Brief

Diversified mining giant Anglo American provided a third-quarter update that saw it keep its full-year guidance unchanged with the exception of nickel, which has been bumped up by over 5% at the lower end. The group cited a strong operational performance. Closer to SA, Kumba Iron Ore reported a 3% climb in production from the prior quarter but said it felt pressure after ship loading was impacted by adverse weather conditions in July at the Saldanha Bay port. Given this, sales are expected to end the year closer to the lower end of its guidance. Anglo American Platinum reported that total production fell 10% amid self-imposed safety stoppages at Amandelbult and the primary mill breakdown at the beginning of the quarter at Mogalakwena's North Concentrator. Guidance for production is unchanged, but it bumped up its refined guidance, citing a strong processing performance and no load shedding. This has increased from 3.7 million to 3.9 million ounces from the previous 3.3 million to 3.7 million ounces. At De Beers, rough diamond production decreased by 25%, while the group said the diamond miner is "actively assessing options with our partners to reduce production going forward."

-FIN24



Mining junior Mantengu flagged headline earnings per share of between 1c and 2c for its six months to end-August, reflecting an improvement of between 105% and 125% from its prior year's loss. In April 2024, Mantengu terminated its contract miner on its Langpan mine so as to execute this function internally. Mantengu said it has invested approximately R81 million in new mining equipment to support this function and to reduce costs. While this resulted in short-term production challenges in April, May and the first half of June 2024, the decision "has been validated by record production numbers in July, August and September 2024", it said. Additionally, the group said it has managed to reduce its mining cost per tonne by more than 50% by internalising the mining function. The group's board also continues to be of the opinion that its shares are being manipulated downwards and thus the company is pursuing both civil and criminal legal action.

-FIN24



KAP's Pat Quarmby retires

Diversified industrials, chemicals and logistics group KAP announced that chair Pat Quarmby, 70, will be stepping down at the groups AGM scheduled for 29 November. Quarmby has been on the board since 2012 and chair since November 2021. Lead independent non-executive director Johan Holtzhausen, who is also chair of WeBuyCars, is set to replace him. He is an admitted attorney and a member of the Law Society with more than 26 years' corporate finance and private equity experience.

-FIN24



Datatec reports shift in revenue stream

ICT firm Datatec reported that a shift in its sales mix away from networking to software weighed on revenue in its half-year to end-August, but it still enjoyed a profit jump and has opted to pay an interim dividend. Revenue fell 5.5% to $2.6 billion (R46 billion), but headline earnings surged 71.4% to $24 million, with the group paying an interim dividend of 4 dollar cents, or 75c - about R175 million. It hadn't paid an interim dividend in its 2024 half-year. Valued at about R8.8 billion on the JSE, Datatec's operations span North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, and its core businesses are Logicalis, which focuses on IT infrastructure and offerings such as cloud and hybrid services; as well as Westcon, a distributor of cybersecurity, network infrastructure and data centre services, among others.

-FIN24



Clicks reports rise in turnover

Pharmacy retail giant Clicks reported that group turnover rose 9% and it hiked its dividend by 14.3% to R7.76, with the group enjoying stronger growth in higher margin product categories together with the benefits of efficient cost management. The group and retail trading margins both exceeded management's medium-term target ranges.

-FIN24



Afrimat revenues down

Troubles at Afrimat's newly acquired cement business helped drag down the group's half-year profits, but a turnaround is quickly taking hold, with the division expected to break even this month. Afrimat reported a 44% increase in revenue to R4.1 billion for the half-year ended in August on Thursday, but about an 80% slump in headline earnings to R80.3 million. The poor result comes amid losses made in the "neglected" cement division of Lafarge, which Afrimat acquired and began incorporating into the group in May this year. It was anticipated that the cement business would struggle for a few months, and this was indeed something factored in when Afrimat negotiated the price of the Lafarge deal.

FIN24



Nu-World reports climb in headline earnings

Nu-World Holdings, which imports markets and distributes branded goods, reported a 5.2% climb in headline earnings to R74.3 million for its year to end-August. It said it saw positive moves in consumer electronic sales, with television and audio sales showing good signs of recovery. The seasonal categories, both winter and summer, performed well during the year, increasing sales and profitability substantially, it said.

-FIN24



Tesla reports share jump

Tesla's stock jumped nearly 12% before the bell on Thursday, a day after it forecast surging car sales growth, reassuring investors that CEO Elon Musk was still looking to expand the core business of selling electric vehicles. The world's the most valuable automaker was on course to add around $81 billion (R1.4 trillion) to its market capitalisation if the gains hold, making up for a recent erosion on concerns that Musk was distracted by new projects like the recently unveiled robotaxi. Musk has been pivoting Tesla into an artificial intelligence and robotics company from an EV market leader but has yet failed to lay out a detailed business plan for his new focus. Last quarter, he made bold company announcements about everything but cars - from driverless taxis to humanoid robots - leaving investors worried about dwindling margins already squeezed by lowered prices. - Reuters



Boeing shares fall

Boeing shares fell 2.7% in US pre-market trading on Thursday after workers voted to extend a nearly six-week-old strike, throwing fresh uncertainty over the company's efforts to stabilise finances and restore its battered image. Some 64% of US West Coast factory workers on Wednesday rejected the company's latest contract offer, leaving assembly lines idle for nearly all the planemaker's commercial jets including the 737 MAX, the backbone of its balance sheet. The offer included a 35% general wage increase over four years but no defined benefit pension plan, which was one of the striking machinists' main demands. The rejection is a blow for new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the top job in August on a pledge to work more closely with factory workers than his predecessors and leaves the company with dwindling options as it continues to bleed cash. - Reuters