Company news in brief

Steinhoff to place shares in PSG Group

South African retailer Steinhoff plans to sell about R7.5 billion of shares in investment firm PSG Group as it scrambles to plug a liquidity gap after it disclosed "accounting irregularities".

The group, which owns more than 40 brands like Conforama, Mattress Firm and Poundland, said yesterday it would place around 29.5 million shares in PSG with institutional investors in an accelerated bookbuild. Steinhoff owns about 25% of PSG, which has a total market value of around R60 billion.

The placement would only go ahead if it achieved acceptable pricing. "Steinhoff will not dispose of the Placing Shares at all costs, as the Placing is being undertaken in order to be pro-active and prudent," the company said. – Nampa/Reuters

Lonmin reports 65% fall in profit

Platinum miner Lonmin reported a 65% drop in 2017 profit yesterday citing higher costs and subdued commodity prices but reiterated its 2018 targets.

The London and Johannesburg-listed miner said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to US$40 million for the year to ended Sept. 30 from US$115 million a year earlier.

Lonmin delayed its results last year pending the outcome of a business review. – Nampa/Reuters

Richemont eyes Yoox Net-A-Porter shares

Luxury goods maker Richemont yesterday announced a plan to buy the shares in Italian online fashion retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter that it does not already own for 38 euros per share.

"We are very pleased with the results achieved by Yoox Net-A-Porter Group's management team, led by Federico Marchetti, and we intend to support them going forward to execute their strategy and further accelerate the growth of the business," Richemont chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement. – Nampa/Reuters

US tax reforms send UBS profits plunging

Swiss banking giant UBS reported yesterday that its profits plummeted 63% last year due to US tax reforms that hit fourth-quarter earnings.

It said annual net profit dropped to 1.16 billion Swiss francs (US$1.01 billion) for the year.

During the last three months of 2017 the bank suffered a net loss of 2.2 billion Swiss francs as it took a charge of 2.87 billion Swiss francs due to changes in US tax laws.

Without the charge against earnings, the bank said it would have posted a net profit of 641 million Swiss francs for the fourth quarter. – Nampa/AFP

Sanofi to buy Bioverativ for US$11.6 bn

French healthcare group Sanofi has agreed to buy US haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for US$11.6 billion, in a deal which it said would boost earnings and strengthen its presence in treatments for rare diseases.

The move comes at a time of renewed interest by large drugmakers in smaller biotech firms and predictions by some experts that 2018 will see a substantial pick-up in mergers and acquisitions.

The agreed transaction marks Sanofi's successful return to deal-making after its failure to land major takeovers in recent years. It is its biggest acquisition since the 2011 takeover of US biotech company Genzyme for around US$20 billion. – Nampa/Reuters