COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Ex Steinhoff CEO did not attend proceedingsFormer Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste, who faces a warrant of arrest in Germany for failing to appear for his fraud trial, did not attend proceedings in Pretoria on Tuesday for his challenge against a reduced R20 million fine for insider trading.Shortly before proceedings began, Stephan Haynes, a member of Jooste’s legal team from law firm from DKVG, confirmed to News24 that Jooste would not be in attendance. His absence was confirmed once proceedings kicked off at 09:00. Jooste, who resigned from Steinhoff in late 2017 when the first signs of a major accounting scandal came to light, was fined R162 million in October 2020 by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for insider trading.He was found guilty of sending an SMS to four friends, warning them to get rid of their Steinhoff stock immediately. In December, the Financial Sector Conduct Tribunal reduced the fine by 90% to R20 million, ruling that Jooste did not disclose "precise" inside information to his friends. It still upheld the ruling that Jooste had encouraged his friends to sell their shares, meaning he had engaged in insider trading.In July, the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg in Germany rejected Jooste's challenge against his arrest warrant. News24 previously reported that authorities were working on a request to extradite Jooste from South Africa.-Fin24Pick n Pay to compensate WilliamsPick n Pay has been found liable by the Western Cape High Court for damages claimed by Maria Williams, wife of the late Springbok winger Chester Williams, who was injured after slipping and falling at one of its supermarkets.The court, however, also found that Pick n Pay - which had been ordered to pay Williams' legal costs - was entitled to a declaratory order confirming that its third-party cleaning service, Bluedot, is liable to indemnify the retailer in accordance with a previous agreement between the two.The amount Williams claimed has not been quantified yet, as she suffered "certain orthopaedic injuries" she received treatment for and will require more of later. She claimed damages for pain and suffering, as well as for past and future medical expenses.According to the court ruling, handed down on Friday, Williams was shopping at the Pick n Pay at the N1 City Mall in Goodwood in November 2017 when the incident happened. She was at the till when she remembered she needed an electric fly repellent. She went down one aisle to collect it, and when she was coming down a different aisle she slipped in some liquid on the floor. She fell on her left side and was in some "considerable discomfort and unable to get back on her feet immediately".-Fin24PPC appoints new CEOSouth Africa's largest cement company, PPC, has named Matias Cardarelli as its next CEO, saying on Monday the head of Natal Portland Cement (NPC) has extensive experience in turnarounds.Cadarelli's appointment on a four-year contract follows the expiration of the contract of Roland van Wijnen at the end of August, though this has been extended to the end of December to allow for a proper handover.Cadarelli has been CEO and chairman of NPC for the past five years, a company which is part of Brazil's Intercement, and prior to moving to South Africa in 2019 he led the operational and financial turnaround of Amreyah Cement in Egypt and scaling-up of Yguazu Cementos in Paraguay, the group said in a statement."Following the onset of Covid-19 and the emergence of a new entrant in the Mozambican cement market, Mr Cardarelli’s portfolio was expanded to include Cimentos de Mozambique, where he successfully implemented an operational and commercial plan to return the company to profitability”."Mr Cardarelli has a remarkable track record in the cement industry," PPC chairman Jabu Moleketi said in the statement.-Fin24Sea Harvest's earnings riseFishing group Sea Harvest said on Monday that strong demand for its products helped offset erratic weather, lower quotas and load shedding in its half-year to end-June.Revenue rose 18% to R3.2 billion while attributable profit lifted 14% to almost R213 million, it said, and the company was also hit by a doubling in finance costs as rising interest rates, while load shedding cost it an estimated R22 million. Operating profit fell about 9% to R252 million, with its second biggest division, Cape Harvest Foods, hit by supply disruptions, load shedding, and a load shedding-related fire.Valued at about R3 billion on the JSE, Sea Harvest employs about 5 200 people, operating some 57 vessels and 11 operational facilities in SA, Australia and Namibia. Along with fishing, the company owns two dairy operations in Ladismith and Bonnievale in the Western Cape, producing a variety of cheese, butter and powder products.Sea Harvest Aquaculture operates five farms that grow abalone and oysters in South Africa and Namibia.In 2022, the company was hit by a reduction to its fishing rights in terms of the government's Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP), but the group said revenue in the SA fishing segment increased 10% to R1.57 billion, benefiting from strong demand in all markets and channels, higher selling prices, and a weaker rand.-Fin24RCL Foods earnings dropRCL Foods, which is majority-owned by Johann Rupert's Remgro, reported that full-year earnings growth fell by more than 40% as it battled input costs in its poultry business and saw load shedding severely hit production in its pet food segment.The company said it had "weathered a tremendously difficult 12 months" with unrecovered cost pressure in its Rainbow Chicken business and the impact of load shedding casting a pall over the overall performance.Specifically within the Rainbow unit, higher revenue driven by both higher volumes and prices were not enough to offset the "severe impacts of high feed costs, failing municipal infrastructure and load shedding", resulting in a 74.9% decline in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.While commodity costs remained the biggest contributor to margin pressure for RCL, load shedding had also added direct costs to its continuing operations of R158.3 million at a pre-tax level. The fallout from power interruptions was most keenly felt in its grocery business unit, with production in the company's pet food segment reduced by up to half from November 2022 to April 2023.-fin24

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