Company News in Brief

Kumba annual profit dives 45% amid railing woesKumba Iron Ore has reported a 45% fall in profit, reflecting production cuts in response to railing constraints.The Anglo American subsidiary, which operates in South Africa's Northern Cape, on Tuesday reported headline earnings per share of R38.94 for the year ended in December 2024, as compared with R70.80 per share in the previous year.Revenue fell 21% to R68.5 billion, while its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation margin of 41% had fallen from 53%, reflecting weaker iron ore prices.Exports slipped 2% and consistent with its strategy of aligning production to Transnet's logistics performance, Kumba's production of 35.7 million tonnes matched ore railed to Saldanha Bay port of 35.6 million tonnes."Sales of 36.3 million tonnes reflect low levels of finished stock levels at the port due to logistics constraints," Kumba CEO Mpumi Zikalala said during a media call on Tuesday.Still, Kumba has cut its final dividend by 18% to R19.90 per share, bringing the full-year dividend to R38.67 per share, equating to a 100% payout ratio of headline earnings.This is well above the company's stated dividend policy to target a payout range of between 50% and 75%.-FIN24 Aveng swings into a loss amid project blows, still eyes splitInfrastructure, construction and engineering group Aveng reported on Tuesday that it swung into a hefty loss in its six months to end December, when it felt pressure from delays at two key projects. However, the group, which operates in Asia, Australasia and has a mining contracting business in SA, is still prioritising its split into two.Aveng, which now reports in Australian dollars, reported a headline loss of A$34.4 million (R399 million) to end December, from earnings of R137 million, hit by delays at two key projects that prompted a combined loss of R885 million.Now valued at about R1.1 billion on the JSE, Aveng had warned of this blow earlier in February. It said on Tuesday that the balance of the projects in the portfolio remain profitable and cash generative.-FIN24 Transnet hit by chronic Cape Town wind delays during peak seasonSouth Africa’s Transnet is taking measures to overcome strong winds at the Cape Town Container Terminal that have dented its performance during a peak season for fruit exports.The state-owned logistics company increased the number of cranes and workers deployed at the port after more than 200 operational hours were lost due to winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) during the last two weeks that’s left 12 vessels waiting at anchor, it said in a statement. Cargo handling is only safe in winds up to 80 kph.The extreme conditions have disrupted loadings at the terminal in the midst of broader efforts by Transnet to turn the business around. The rail-and-port operator has implemented a program to improve the amount of freight it handles involving private companies and upgrading old equipment. That’s meant to curb the losses suffered by South Africa’s economy due to hampered mineral exports and ships waiting to unload.The Cape Town terminal, which was ranked last in the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index 2023, is in the peak of its deciduous fruit season, which runs from November to March.The wind is forecast to escalate through Friday, Transnet said. Oscar Borchards, Transnet’s acting managing executive for terminals in the Western Cape province, described a plan in June to increase capacity with new equipment that can operate at higher wind speeds.For now, Transnet is deploying workers who are off duty to clear the backlog of shipments. “Some have been called from leave and all internal meetings have been canceled to ensure everyone is on the ground,” Borchards said in the statement.-BLOOMBERG Naspers hits record highNaspers' shares jumped 2.2% to close at nearly R4 703 on Monday afternoon on the JSE, putting a value of more than R837 billion to the group. Prosus jumped R16 per share to nearly R854, the highest since February 2021. Its market capitalisation increased to nearly R3 435 billion. Naspers and Prosus have been surging over the last few weeks, and closed over 6% and 5% up on Friday, respectively. The former has jumped over 27% in the last month and led the JSE to a new record high last week, together with Prosus and Richemont.Management will be quick to point out that both Prosus and Naspers are actually worth much more than their share prices show – because the shares still trade at a discount of between 40% and 50% to the value of the underlying portfolio of international e-commerce and internet businesses.The sharp increase in the price of Naspers is due solely to the jump in the price of Tencent because of a meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and the leaders of several Chinese technology companies on Monday morning.-MONEYWEB

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