COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Transnet to relocate its manganese ore facility
After years of lodging complaints about a health hazard posed by the manganese ore industry in Gqeberha, Transnet has announced it will relocate the manganese ore facility from the city’s harbour to the Port of Ngqurgha outside the town in 2027.
For years, political parties, businesses and communities complained that the manganese facility, located inside the Port of Gqeberha, was a health hazard, with the fine, black manganese dust regularly settling over the nearby residential and commercial areas.
When inhaled, manganese ore dust can lead to development of health complications. Exposure to manganese dust or fumes can also lead to a neurological condition called manganism, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Due to limited capacity Port of Gqeberha, the product is stockpiled at the port, the Markman industrial area, and Swartkops.
Concerned groups have previously said the high traffic volume of overloaded trucks, which often carry uncovered manganese ore from Markman to the harbour, have a devastating impact on the city’s roads. -Fin24
Sales at Builders and Game fall
In a trading update for the 19 weeks to 8 May, Massmart reported a 0.2% fall in its sales, which came to R30.4 billion.
Both Game and Builders saw declining sales, but Makro saw its sales grow by 6.7% compared to the same period in the previous year.
"Whilst food and liquor sales have performed well, sales relating to general merchandise, specifically in Makro, declined on the prior year period as cash strapped consumers focused their spending more toward non-durable items," the group said.
Compared to the same period in 2019, sales at Makro increased by 6%. Builders saw a 3.9% fall in total sales on the back of an "exceptionally" strong base in 2021.
"Trade sales continue to be challenged by the slow recovery of the commercial construction industry, whilst general home improvement market growth is slowing compared to the exceptionally strong Covid-19 induced growth of the last 24-month period."-Fin24
Tencent’s revenue misses estimates
Tencent's revenue missed estimates, after a sweeping government crackdown and Chinese economic malaise wiped out growth at the internet behemoth.
Revenue came in at 135.5 billion yuan (R321 billion) for the three months ended March, versus the 141.1-billion-yuan average forecast.
Growth decelerated for a seventh straight quarter, to the slowest pace since the Shenzhen company went public in 2004. Net income slid 51% to 23.4 billion yuan, compared with the 29.3 billion yuan projected.
China’s largest tech corporations from Tencent to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are resigning themselves to a new era of cautious expansion, more than a year after the start of Beijing’s campaign that eventually engulfed every internet sphere from e-commerce to gaming and fintech.
Sentiment toward the industry has swung wildly in recent weeks, as investors debate whether the crackdown has run its course, or is at least switching to a more sustainable pace. -Fin24
Dis-Chem says it won't share more info
Pharmacy retailer Dis-Chem said it won't sharing further information on the data breach that compromised the personal details of 3.6 million of its customers.
Dis-Chem announced the breach in a customer notice last week. In April, an “unauthorised person” accessed customers’ first names, surnames, email addresses and cellphone numbers, after hacking into one of Dis-Chem’s third-party service providers.
Last week, Dis-Chem said there was no indication that the personal information had been published or misused. But the pharmacy retailer warned that it couldn’t guarantee that this won't happen in future.
On Wednesday, the group refused to confirm any further information in response to Fin24's request for an update.
"Dis-Chem will not be sharing anything further on the data breach," the company said in a statement. -Fin24
Microsoft announces changes
Microsoft, which had been fined 1.6 billion euros (R27 billion) by EU antitrust regulators, will revise its licensing terms and allow cloud service providers to better compete in response to complaints, its president Brad Smith said on Wednesday.
The company was taking the first step but not the last to address the concerns, Smith told a conference organised by think tank Bruegel in Brussels.
Microsoft wants to listen and act on the complaints, he said.
"It really starts by giving more options to European cloud providers. So, if there's a company that has a data center but wants to run solutions in its cloud PBX data centre, we're creating more options for them to do so with our software, because that's what they've been asking for," he said.
Smith said the changes include allowing cloud service providers to offer Windows as a complete deskstop operating system, providing longer-term price protection and revising licensing terms.
The company found itself on the EU competition enforcer's radar again after German software provider NextCloud, France's OVHcloud and two other companies filed complaints about Microsoft's cloud practices. -Fin24
After years of lodging complaints about a health hazard posed by the manganese ore industry in Gqeberha, Transnet has announced it will relocate the manganese ore facility from the city’s harbour to the Port of Ngqurgha outside the town in 2027.
For years, political parties, businesses and communities complained that the manganese facility, located inside the Port of Gqeberha, was a health hazard, with the fine, black manganese dust regularly settling over the nearby residential and commercial areas.
When inhaled, manganese ore dust can lead to development of health complications. Exposure to manganese dust or fumes can also lead to a neurological condition called manganism, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Due to limited capacity Port of Gqeberha, the product is stockpiled at the port, the Markman industrial area, and Swartkops.
Concerned groups have previously said the high traffic volume of overloaded trucks, which often carry uncovered manganese ore from Markman to the harbour, have a devastating impact on the city’s roads. -Fin24
Sales at Builders and Game fall
In a trading update for the 19 weeks to 8 May, Massmart reported a 0.2% fall in its sales, which came to R30.4 billion.
Both Game and Builders saw declining sales, but Makro saw its sales grow by 6.7% compared to the same period in the previous year.
"Whilst food and liquor sales have performed well, sales relating to general merchandise, specifically in Makro, declined on the prior year period as cash strapped consumers focused their spending more toward non-durable items," the group said.
Compared to the same period in 2019, sales at Makro increased by 6%. Builders saw a 3.9% fall in total sales on the back of an "exceptionally" strong base in 2021.
"Trade sales continue to be challenged by the slow recovery of the commercial construction industry, whilst general home improvement market growth is slowing compared to the exceptionally strong Covid-19 induced growth of the last 24-month period."-Fin24
Tencent’s revenue misses estimates
Tencent's revenue missed estimates, after a sweeping government crackdown and Chinese economic malaise wiped out growth at the internet behemoth.
Revenue came in at 135.5 billion yuan (R321 billion) for the three months ended March, versus the 141.1-billion-yuan average forecast.
Growth decelerated for a seventh straight quarter, to the slowest pace since the Shenzhen company went public in 2004. Net income slid 51% to 23.4 billion yuan, compared with the 29.3 billion yuan projected.
China’s largest tech corporations from Tencent to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are resigning themselves to a new era of cautious expansion, more than a year after the start of Beijing’s campaign that eventually engulfed every internet sphere from e-commerce to gaming and fintech.
Sentiment toward the industry has swung wildly in recent weeks, as investors debate whether the crackdown has run its course, or is at least switching to a more sustainable pace. -Fin24
Dis-Chem says it won't share more info
Pharmacy retailer Dis-Chem said it won't sharing further information on the data breach that compromised the personal details of 3.6 million of its customers.
Dis-Chem announced the breach in a customer notice last week. In April, an “unauthorised person” accessed customers’ first names, surnames, email addresses and cellphone numbers, after hacking into one of Dis-Chem’s third-party service providers.
Last week, Dis-Chem said there was no indication that the personal information had been published or misused. But the pharmacy retailer warned that it couldn’t guarantee that this won't happen in future.
On Wednesday, the group refused to confirm any further information in response to Fin24's request for an update.
"Dis-Chem will not be sharing anything further on the data breach," the company said in a statement. -Fin24
Microsoft announces changes
Microsoft, which had been fined 1.6 billion euros (R27 billion) by EU antitrust regulators, will revise its licensing terms and allow cloud service providers to better compete in response to complaints, its president Brad Smith said on Wednesday.
The company was taking the first step but not the last to address the concerns, Smith told a conference organised by think tank Bruegel in Brussels.
Microsoft wants to listen and act on the complaints, he said.
"It really starts by giving more options to European cloud providers. So, if there's a company that has a data center but wants to run solutions in its cloud PBX data centre, we're creating more options for them to do so with our software, because that's what they've been asking for," he said.
Smith said the changes include allowing cloud service providers to offer Windows as a complete deskstop operating system, providing longer-term price protection and revising licensing terms.
The company found itself on the EU competition enforcer's radar again after German software provider NextCloud, France's OVHcloud and two other companies filed complaints about Microsoft's cloud practices. -Fin24
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