COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

MTN boss took home R84 million in 2021

MTN paid its group CEO Ralph Mupita R84.2 million in the 2021 financial year as the company recorded an improved financial performance, statements in the company's annual report show.

The amount is a 133% increase from the R36.1 million total remuneration recorded in 2020.

Mupita, the company's former chief financial officer, took over as CEO in September 2020 after the departure of his predecessor, Rob Shuter. He has been steering the company's Ambition 2025 strategy, which focuses on streamlining its assets and positioning the firm as a Pan-African telecommunications company.

His total remuneration package included R15.4 million in salary, post-employment benefits of R701 000, short-term incentives of R29 million, long-term incentives amounting to R38 million, and qualifying dividends, among other benefits. The short-term incentive of R28.9 million was a significant jump from the R17.7 million seen in 2020.

"The difference of remuneration received in 2021 compared to 2020 was attributed to improved performance outcomes between the two years and his promotion to group president and CEO effective from 1 September 2020," the company said. -Fin24

Sasol declares force majeure on exports

Sasol has declared force majeure on the export of certain chemical products as the heavy rainfall and floods in KwaZulu-Natal have impacted the business.

The group, a producer of synthetic fuels and chemicals, said its quarterly volume outlook may also be impacted "subject to the extent of infrastructure damage and the timing of the recovery and restoration of key infrastructure and utilities".

Force majeure frees parties from contractual obligations in the case of an extraordinary event which prevents them from performing.

"At the stage, only production rates at certain plants in Sasolburg have been impacted due to the damage on the Sasolburg-Durban railway infrastructure. The impact of the disruption cannot be quantified at this stage," the group said.

In a production update released on Monday, Sasol committed to update the market of any material impacts. The group said it is supporting its employees and communities during this period. -Fin24

Foschini Group expects profit surge

In a trading update for the year to end-March, retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) says its headline profit should be more than 692.6 cents per share, compared to 197.9 cents per share in the previous year.

The company, which also owns @home, American Swiss and various other retail brands, also confirmed that 36 of its stores as well as a cloth warehouse were damaged in the floods that hit KwaZulu-Natal this month. But TFG says the flood damage has not been material.

“These damages are not considered to be material in the context of the group’s South African operations and all affected stores have since resumed trading. The group has appropriate insurance cover and has notified its insurers accordingly,” said TFG.

The group reported a strong trading performance in South Africa, the UK and Australia in the second half of the financial year. This offset the impact of the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as a R2.7 billion goodwill impairment at its TFG London operations

TFG's share price was slightly higher on Monday morning following the update, trading up 18c to R139.59.-Fin24

PSG is heading for JSE exit

The Mouton family's empire, the PSG Group, looks set to exit the JSE as planned before the end of this year. The company, which presented its annual financial results on Monday, said it received positive feedback from shareholders regarding its plans to unbundle its stakes in JSE-listed companies and exit the exchange.

In March, PSG first announced that it plans to unbundle its shareholding in PSG Konsult, Curro, Kaap Agri, CA Sales Holdings (CA&S), and Stadio. The company had already unbundled its stake in Capitec in 2021.

If it gets enough shareholder support at the upcoming general meeting in July, the PSG Group would then delist from the JSE after it wrapped up the unbundling process.

Mouton said Capitec had convinced shareholders regarding the value that unbundling can unlock for them.

In February 2020, PSG's share price traded at R186.60. The company then unbundled Capitec in February 2022 and shareholders received R290.41 in value of the unbundled Capitec shares. In addition, PSG shares traded at R81.83 following the unbundling. -Fin24

Eskom warns of load shedding

Eskom urged South Africans to reduce their power use as the electricity system is severely constrained due to the delay in returning units to service and the loss of multiple generation units on Monday.

Any further losses of generation capacity would trigger load shedding at "very short notice", the utility warned.

Eskom said the power system on Monday afternoon was "very constrained" following various breakdowns over the weekend, as well as delays in returning some generation units to service.

Eskom is working on returning a generation unit each at Matimba, Duvha and Arnot power stations to service before the evening peak on Monday.

Generation units at Arnot, Kendal, Matla and Tutuka power stations have been returned to service, but Eskom said it is still heavily reliant on emergency reserves to meet demand on Monday night. There reserves are currently at "healthy" levels, the utility added. -Fin24