Company news in brief

Mercedes Benz to recall million cars

Mercedes-Benz Group AG will recall almost a million vehicles worldwide because of a potential problem with the braking system, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the German federal transport authority.

The regulator, known as KBA, said in a statement June 1 that the affected cars were built between 2004 and 2015 and belong to the ML and GL sports utility vehicle series as well as the R-Class luxury minivan, according to AFP.

Mercedes confirmed the recall in a statement to AFP, saying a "particularly strong or hard" braking maneuver could cause mechanical damage to the vehicles’ brake booster in "rare cases" of very severe corrosion.

More than 993 000 vehicles were being recalled worldwide, of which 70 000 were in Germany, AFP reported. – Fin24

Oceana fires finance head

Oceana has fired its chief financial officer after she was found guilty of gross misconduct as part of a disciplinary process.

Hajra Karrim has been suspended since February.

The disciplinary process was chaired by a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Oceana said.

Since October last year, the company has already delayed the publication of its financial results for the year to end-September 2021 several times due to two accounting issues. The JSE previously warned that the company's listing would be suspended if it didn't submit its annual report.

The accounting issues relate to the treatment of the group's 25% shareholding in US-based Westbank Fishing and the dating of signatures on an internal document relating to a US$4-million insurance claim that was paid out to Oceana.

A forensic investigation by ENSafrica found no evidence of "fraud, misappropriation or loss of funds or management of override of controls arising from any of the matters raised". – Fin24

African Bank 'bad bank' paid R4.3bn to creditors

Residual Debt Services (RDS), the so-called "bad bank" that emerged from the split of African Bank Limited operations when it went into curatorship in 2014, has already paid R4.35 billion to creditors.

However, all the money has gone to the senior unsecured stub instrument holders. Other creditors – the subordinated stub instrument holders – will have to wait a little longer.

And the situation is dire for shareholders as RDS still has not placed any value to their possible claims six years later.

"At this moment, we still do not believe there's any value for existing shareholders," said RDS curator Craig du Plessis during the presentation of the company's latest financial results on Thursday.

Du Plessis said there was still R9.56 billion owned to creditors at the end of March. Although they've received all the money paid by RDS to date, senior unsecured stub instruments holders are still owed another R2.6 billion. Subordinated stub instrument debt holders are waiting for R6.96 billion. – Fin24

Former SAB boss dies at 82

Meyer Kahn, former SAB boss and head of the SA Police Service in the late 1990s, has died, shortly before his 83rd birthday.

Kahn worked at the beer brewer for 46 years, joining SAB in 1966 after getting a law degree and an MBA from the University of Pretoria.

He became managing director of SAB in 1983, and executive chairperson in 1990.

In 1997, former president Nelson Mandela asked him to head the South African Police Service, and he left the position in 1999 after his two-year contract expired.

Kahn returned to SABMiller, where he remained chairperson until his retirement in 2012. – Fin24

PIC wants Absa to have transformation targets

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) says it is satisfied with Absa's openness to engage it about its concerns regarding the level of transformation in the bank.

The state-owned asset manager, which is Absa's second-biggest shareholder, expressed "downright disappointment" when Absa appointed a white CEO in April, having lost its first black chief after just one year.

The appointment of Arrie Rautenbach to permanently succeed Daniel Mminele, who parted ways with the bank because of clashes with the board, left not only the PIC, but many other observers questioning Absa's commitment to transformation.

The PIC had expected Absa to focus on transformation when recruiting a new CEO to succeed Mminele. But in a statement that the asset manager asked Absa's board to read at Friday's annual general meeting (AGM), it said it appreciated the engagements it had had with the new chairperson and the new CEO regarding the level of transformation at Absa.

That said, it will continue to keep a close eye on Absa to monitor its progress on recruiting people of other races and women at both board and executive levels, and wants this to be part of the targets that determine their remuneration. – Fin24