Company news in brief

Truworths posts flat H1 retail sales growth

South African clothes retailer Truworths on Thursday reported flat retail sales growth in the first-half, which it blamed on a challenging trading period marred by political uncertainty in its home market.

The company, which also runs the British footwear chain Office, said retail sales for the 26-week period ended Dec. 31 rose to R10.3 billion, from R10.2 billion a year ago.

Retailers in South Africa are facing tough trading conditions as consumer sentiment hits multi-year lows and high unemployment and inflation erode disposable incomes in the country's first recession in eight years.

Diluted headline earnings per share, a widely watched profit measure in South Africa, strips out certain one-off, non-trading items, fell 3% to 379.3 cents. – Nampa/Reuters

Optimum starts business rescue proceedings

South African power producer Eskom said on Thursday the Optimum coal mine, which is owned by the Gupta family and supplies one of the utility's power stations, had started business rescue proceedings.

Ajay Gupta, one of the three Gupta brothers accused of corrupt links to former president Jacob Zuma, was declared a "fugitive from justice" by South Africa’s chief prosecutor, while India's Bank of Baroda, which counts the family's operations as clients, has pulled the plug on its South African business.

South Africa's main commercial banks have cut all ties with the Guptas, citing reputational risk. Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied any wrong-doing.

Eskom, the sole power provider in Africa's most industrialised economy, said it was informed by Optimum, which supplies its Hendrina Power Station, that Optimum had started business rescue proceedings on Monday.

Coal had been diverted from other mines to supply the power station after workers at Optimum downed tools and coal was not delivered. – Nampa/Reuters

Snap chief earns US$638 mln in 2017

Snap Inc Chief Executive Evan Spiegel received US$637.8 million as total compensation last year after the company went public, the third-highest annual payout ever received by a company's CEO.

Spiegel's payout trails the 2007 and 2008 compensations of Daniel Och, CEO of hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, according to ISS Analytics, the data arm of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

Och received an annual compensation of US$918.9 million in fiscal year 2007 and US$1.19 billion in 2008.

Spiegel's pay package is based on stock-based awards worth US$636.6 million and salary and other compensation worth about US$1.2 million, according to a security filing by Snap on Thursday.

Spiegel earned US$98 078 as salary in 2017, according to a security filing by the company. – Nampa/Reuters

Rio Tinto says changing structure

Rio Tinto is moving some of its support staff as it creates three global hubs, but is not changing its operating model, it said on Thursday.

Rio Tinto, the second biggest miner by market capitalisation, has listings in London and Australia, a headquarters in London and an Australian office.

In addition, it has created a commercial and marketing hub in Singapore and three global hubs.

Rio Tinto said in an emailed statement its operating model was not changing, but it was "adjusting where work is done by creating three global hubs" and it was starting a consultation with British employees as some roles would be moved to one of the three hubs. It did not specify where the hubs would be.

Rio CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques said he regularly reviews Rio's structure and is comfortable with it. – Nampa/Reuters

Barclays women earn less than men

Barclays pays women in its international division on average half of what men earn, the British bank said on Thursday, underscoring how major financial firms still have far fewer female employees in senior roles.

The mean gender pay gap in Barclays International, which houses the bank's investment banking unit, was 48%, Barclays said, meaning the average hourly wage for a woman was just under half that of a man.

Barclays joins a handful of major financial institutions that have disclosed gender pay gaps. The British government last year said it would require all companies with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay data by April 2018.

At Barclays, the difference was largely the result of the proportion of women working in more junior roles, rather than a breach of pay equality rules that require people working at the same rank to be paid the same regardless of gender, the bank said.

The bank reported a gender pay gap in its other main unit, Barclays UK, of 26%. – Nampa/Reuters