COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Mohahlaula Airlines suing Lesotho governmentA Lesotho aviation charter company is suing the Lesotho government for damages because mines in the country do not use its services to transport diamonds to South Africa by plane.Court documents, dated 28 March 2023 and seen by News24, show that Bohlokoa Aviation, trading as Mohahlaula Airlines, is suing the Lesotho government in the High Court of Lesotho for damages of R10 million plus interest.It claims that the Lesotho government is breaching the country's mining law, which stipulates that local services should be used, if available, over similar outside services.Mohahlaula Airlines is based at the Moshoeshoe I International Airport in Maseru.Lesotho's Mines and Minerals Act provides that the holder of a mineral right shall, "with due regard to the need to ensure safety, technical and economic efficiency", use services available in Lesotho.In 2017, the company identified an opportunity created by the law to transport diamonds from mines in Lesotho to South Africa and do aerial survey work for the mines. Investment capital was raised to invest in its services.Mohahlaula claims it incurred large costs, including obtaining aircraft, pilots and other staff, equipment, insurance, permits and licences, and operating capital.In March 2020, the company made the diamond mines in Lesotho aware of its services but received no response. In January 2022, the company raised the issue with the Lesotho Department of Civil Aviation.Mohahlaula claims the Lesotho Civil Aviation Authority keeps issuing foreign operators temporary airspace permits, enabling the Lesotho mines to avoid using locally available services.-Fin24Bell's profit surges amid strong demandBell Equipment, which makes and sells heavy machinery such as dump trucks and forklifts, said it cashed in on robust demand from the mining industry in 2022, growing profits by almost two-thirds, while also maintaining a record order book.Profit after tax increased 63% to almost R639 million to end-December, the company said, with its final dividend jumping 80% to 90c per share, about an R86 million payout.Valued at about R1.6 billion in the JSE, Bell generates almost 60% of its revenue from its SA segment, while also selling equipment internationally, including in Europe, Asia and the rest of Africa.Group sales were up 28% in 2022, the company said, also benefiting from an easing of global supply chains.SA experienced a positive year as well, it said, with favourable commodity prices fuelling demand in the mining industry, while demand was strong in the US and UK despite high inflation levels.The order book is being maintained at record levels, with the group saying it was taking orders for 2024.Bell CEO Leon Goosen said in a statement that increased demand for commodities, country-specific post-Covid-19 stimulus packages, and increased infrastructure spending in several markets had driven demand for articulated dump trucks in particular.-Fin24Botswana's Minergy reports booming revenuesBotswana coal miner, Minergy Limited, reported a 146% surge in interim revenues due to strong coal sales. But tough times lie ahead as commodity prices fall while a heavy debt burden continues to weigh on the company.As reported in its results for the six months ended in December 2022, Minergy produced an operating profit for the first time thanks to a "remarkable improvement in revenue" owed to high global demand and coal prices which supported product exports through Walvis Bay in neighbouring Namibia.Notably, the inflows have seen Minergy reduce its net loss before taxation by 37% from 91 million pula (R123.9 million) for the comparative six-month period to 58 million pula (R79 million) for the interim period, thanks to increased revenue.The exceptional demand for coal created by the war in Ukraine and the resultant impact on Minergy's performance started early in March 2022. The miner reported a 53% increase in volumes during the period under review, supported by some 147 000 tonnes which were exported via Walvis Bay. Coal prices were about 66% higher than the comparative six-month period, Minergy noted.To sell the additional coal supported by buoyant export markets, mining at Masama was ramped up to full capacity. "This came with further investment into work in progress and increases in contract mining and other services trade accounts", Minergy said.-Fin24Jury takes over as MultiChoice SA bossMultiChoice South Africa CEO Nyiko Shiburi is relinquishing the role after three years to head up a newly created technology division at the Randburg-based pay-TV company. SuperSport CEO Marc Jury will be the new MultiChoice SA CEO.Teix Texeira is stepping in as interim SuperSport CEO for a year. Rendani Ramovha, the head of marketing and commercial for SuperSport, has been appointed as SuperSport CEO-designate and will take over the position from April 2024.MultiChoice told News24 on Friday afternoon that Shiburi was exiting his position as MultiChoice SA CEO and becoming MultiChoice group chief technology officer.The company says it is uniting its broadcast technology division, enterprise business systems, group digital, DStv streaming technology and project management office under one division."We are repositioning our technology area to lead our next growth phase and to deliver on our vision of becoming the technology platform of choice for African households," says Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice group CEO."Nyiko has extensive leadership experience in the technology space, having grown within the MultiChoice ranks from senior manager for broadcast engineering and group GM for the broadcast technology division."His technology background and experience places him in good stead to lead this new division and deliver the best technology to achieve our goals."-Fin24Absa eyes black ownershipAbsa has announced a new broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) scheme worth R11.2 billion that will increase its black ownership by about 7 percentage points.Its last empowerment report showed black share ownership stood at 17.56% in 2021, with the bank saying that after the transaction, its black ownership will exceed the 25% threshold set out in the Financial Sector Charter.The bank hopes to implement the deal before the end of this year, with shareholders set to vote on the matter on 2 June.A Corporate Social Investment (CSI) trust, for the benefit of black communities, will indirectly own a 4% shareholding, while a staff trust will indirectly hold 3% of Absa.Black staff members in South Africa will receive just over 82% of the value of the staff trust, it said, while the equivalent of approximately 1% of Absa will be made available to staff employed by subsidiaries in other markets. –Fin24PSG Wealth ordered to pay client The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ordered a financial services company to pay a client more than R800 000 stolen by fraudsters through email cybercrime.Judge Denise Fisher ruled in favour of Jan Jacobus Gerber who sued a PSG Wealth Financial Planning for the loss he sustained due to the unlawful electronic transfer of money intended for his retirement that he had invested with the company.Judge Fisher said it had become routine for business to be conducted via email and it had now become common for these emails to be accessed remotely by fraudsters. She said business email compromise (BEC) had become rife and that both parties had been victims of the fraud."The question is, who should bear the losses," she said.Judge Fisher said Gerber had a share portfolio which had been managed by PSG, through its representative Jonathan Fisher, for more than a decade.Gerber had a share and cash portfolio with investments totalling R855 413 as at September 2019. This could be liquidated and paid out at Gerber’s request.The judge said that the contact between Fisher and Gerber was rare. The dealings entailed no more than a monthly statement, detailing his account activity, sent via email to Gerber.Then, in October 2019 there was a "somewhat unusual request" when Fisher received an email, purportedly from Gerber, requesting to liquidate R250 000. The email also provided details of a new bank account with FNB.-Fin24Momentum caps power surge payoutsMomentum Insure reduced the amount it pays out for power surge claims.The Centurion-based insurer sent a letter to its customers informing them that power surge cover under their buildings and contents policies will be capped to a maximum of R10 000 per claim. Customers will still pay a standard excess of R3 000 per incident for all power surge claims.It wrote that the changes were necessitated by "the significant increase in power outages across the country, the inconsistency of the current provided to homes and businesses, and the increase in power surge-related claims."Previously, the insurer only committed to covering loss or damage caused by power surges or dips without putting a limit on the payable claims.If people want to be covered for more than R10 000 per event, they'd have to cough up more in terms of their monthly premiums. Momentum Insure said customers can increase their default cover with extended power surge cover up to a maximum of 30% of the total sum insured. Momentum is not the first insurer to try to hedge its risks against power surge claims. OUTsurance and Bryte Insurance are among those who have implemented larger excesses for these claims.-Fin24

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