COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Judge slams Standard Bank applicationStandard Bank and its lawyers have come under fire from a Durban High Court judge for taking shortcuts in an application against a defaulting home owner. The bank sought default judgment and an order allowing for the sale of the home.But Judge Jacqui Henriques dismissed the application, saying it showed signs of a "copy and paste" job, and directed that a copy of her judgment, and the full set of application papers, be sent both to the Legal Practice Council and the Banking Services Ombudsman.The application was brought by Standard Bank against a couple who registered a bond with the bank on a property in Newlands East.In August last year, after they defaulted on their payments, the bank sent the requisite notice to them in terms of the National Credit Act, informing them that they had failed to make payment of the full monthly instalments, and demanding that they pay all arrears, failing which the bank would take legal action, which it then did, in September.In the particulars of claim, the bank indicated the amount of arrears, and noted that the couple had first breached the agreement in March 2019, and the bank official detailed the attempts to contact them, including phoning them eight times, sending four SMS messages and six emails. -Fin24Mpact posts strong profit growthPackage maker Mpact has had a strong half-year performance, but has warned of possible price hikes in October as input costs continue to climb.The group produces paper and plastic packaging used in fruit production and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Its business also includes recycling.In its results for the six months ended 30 June 2022, the group reported that its headline earnings per share grew by 31% to 142 cents. It declared an interim gross cash dividend of 40 cents per ordinary share.Mpact attributed its strong performance to strong local demand, which it expects will continue, and sales growth of new products.The packaging manufacturer&#039;s paper business saw a 5.9% revenue jump to R4.9 billion in the interim period, while the revenue growth of its plastics business remained flat, with a 1.2% increase to R849 million.Despite a strong performance, the group experienced challenges during the six months, including problems at local ports, bad weather and ongoing global supply chain constraints. The company has increased its raw material stocks to cushion it against delays and uncertainty. -Fin24Karpowership appeal failsKarpowership, the Turkish company seeking to supply more than 1 200 megawatts of power to South Africa, said its appeal to overturn an environmental ruling against its plans has failed in another blow to the country&#039;s attempts to resolve a power crisis.The company, which supplies ship-mounted gas-fired power plants, will be allowed to correct "perceived gaps" in its application, it said in a statement sent to Bloomberg on Sunday. Karpowership last year won more than 60% of an emergency power tender to secure 2 000 megawatts of electricity to ease power shortages that have plagued the South Africa since 2008. While the companies were originally meant to commence supply this month, projects worth only 150 megawatts have concluded their financial arrangements and are more than a year away from commissioning. Environment Minister Barbara Creecy last year dismissed Karpowership&#039;s initial application after environmental activists lodged complaints about its impact on fishing, local ecosystems and potential greenhouse gas emissions."We respect Minister Creecy&#039;s exercise of her powers, but we are very disappointed with the outlook especially given the time it took to make a decision," Karpowership said in the statement. The company will refile its submission and hopes "that the process will be much timelier than it has been to date," it said. -Fin24SoftBank posts US$17 bln Vision Fund lossSoftBank Group Corp posted a 2.33 trillion-yen (US$17.23 billion) loss at its Vision Fund unit in the April-June quarter as the value of its tech portfolio slid.SoftBank had booked a record loss at the Vision Fund unit in May as market turmoil driven by rising interest rates and political instability hit the tech investor. The group&#039;s sliding portfolio pushed it to a 3.16 trillion-yen net loss in the latest quarter, compared with a profit of 761.5 billion yen in the same period a year ago.In the quarter ended June, falling listed investments included robotics firm AutoStore Holdings Ltd, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group and ridehailer Uber Technologies Inc.SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son has pledged to tighten investing criteria and preserve cash to weather the downturn.-Reuters

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Republikein 2025-11-05

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