Company news in brief

Paratus expects revenue boostLocally-listed Paratus Namibia Holdings expects revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2023 to be between 10% and 30% higher than the same half-year in 2022.Headline earnings per ordinary share (HEPS), a profitability gauge, are anticipated to be more than 30% higher than the same six months in 2022, Paratus said in a trading statement on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) yesterday.Basic earnings per ordinary share (BEPS) are also expected to be more than 30% higher.“The main reasons for the increase in HEPS and BEPS is due to the increase in profitability, emanating from the growth in revenue and the containment of operating expenses,” Paratus said.Furthermore, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the period is anticipated to be more than 30% higher too.Paratus’ latest interim results is expected this week.Shoprite uses AI in price warIn its bid to extend a protracted period of market share gains, Shoprite is now using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help its buyers balance prices and volumes.CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said the retailer had just recently implemented an AI pricing tool and has an enormous amount of data – some 12 petabytes – available on the shopping habits of its customer.This latest technology, along with the 5 000 data points on each customer provided by such programmes as its Xstrasavings rewards card, has already helped the company to continue to deliver strong financial results, said Engelbrecht. The data available to the company through programmes such Xtrasavings, which has 29 million members, has assisted Shoprite to run "an in-stock at store level of over 98% for three years now".Shoprite on Tuesday reported its streak of market share gains that has reached 58 consecutive months. Merchandise sales grew almost 14% to R121 billion for the six months to end-December, with its core supermarkets division growing 14.6% to R97.5 billion.The group said it outperformed the market, and while its shares were marginally lower on the day, they have still risen about 15% in the past 12 months. – Fin24Murray & Roberts tackles debt pileShares of mining services and engineering firm Murray and Roberts (M&R) jumped yesterday as it managed to keep its operating profit steady in its half-year to end-December, while it is making progress in dealing with a hefty debt pile.Group revenue rose almost 12% to R6.6 billion to end December, but the company still reported a R95 million loss - from a loss of R2.5 billion previously - amid higher tax charges and interest of R75 million.Despite this, the group's shares had jumped 16.5% in morning trade, though it is still down about 2% on a twelve-month basis.M&R, valued at about R600 million on the JSE, has regional businesses in Africa and the Americas as well as OptiPower, which focuses on energy infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa.The group said it has managed to cut its net debt to R247 million from almost R2 billion, with the group having moved, among other initiatives, to sell its Gautrain stake and a non-strategic investment in Aarden Solar. – Fin24

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