Company news in brief

Tiger Brands faces class action suits

Tiger Brands has closed its factory in Pretoria where listeria was detected as South Africa faces the worst outbreak of the disease, which has killed 180 people since January 2017.

Health authorities are also examining a second Tiger Brands factory in the town of Germiston, near Johannesburg.

Tiger Brands estimated it lost up to R33 million at its meat products unit in March.

The food producer said it was taking a R337-377 million pre-tax hit due to the costs of a product recall and suspension of production at its Polokwane, Germiston, Pretoria and Clayville sites, which produce polony, and other cold meats.

Tiger Brands said it has received notice of two class action suits against the firm, with the total amount claimed against the company estimated at R425 million. – Nampa/Reuters

Zambia picks Unitel unit as 4th mobile operator

Zambia has selected a unit of Dutch company Unitel International Holdings as the country's fourth mobile phone service provider, the communications regulator said on Monday.

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) said in a statement that Unitel had pledged to invest US$350 million-plus and create more than 450 direct jobs.

Zambia approved a law in June last year allowing more mobile phone voice service providers to boost competition.

"UZI Zambia Ltd has been successfully identified for the issuance of the two licences," ZICTA said in the statement, referring to the local and international licences that companies require under local laws.

South Africa's MTN, India's Bharti Airtel and state-owned Zamtel are the only mobile phone operators currently offering voice services in Zambia. – Nampa/Reuters

Total Eren targets Africa's power-starved mining sector

Renewable energy company Total Eren said on Monday it had opened the world's largest solar-thermal hybrid plant in Burkina Faso, the first of what it hopes will be many projects supplying the African mining industry's growing need for power.

Total Eren and Africa-focused independent power producer AEMP inaugurated Essakane Solar over the weekend, adding 15 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity to an existing 57-MW heavy fuel oil power plant at Toronto-listed IAMGOLD's Essakane mine.

Christophe Fleurence, Total Eren's vice-president for business development in Africa, told Reuters the plan was to replicate this with other mining projects.

Mining companies operating in remote areas have long relied on thermal power plants, making their operations carbon-intensive and their costs vulnerable to fluctuations in world oil prices.

The Essakane plant, made up of nearly 130 000 solar panels, is expected to decrease the mine's fuel consumption by some 6 million litres per year and reduce CO2 emissions by around 18 500 tonnes per year. – Nampa/Reuters

Advtech FY profit falls, schools unit underperforms

South African private education group AdvTech reported a 3% fall in earnings as a result of a lower student intake and a financial hit from an accounting fraud uncovered last year.

Diluted headline earnings per share fell to 69 cents in the year to end December from 71 cents a year earlier.

The company, which also runs colleges and recruitment agencies, took a R35.5 million hit from a three-year long fraudulent overstatement of sales, understatement of costs and theft of cash. The fraud claimed the head of the company's finance manager in its schools unit, the biggest contributor to the company's annual sales.

The division, which operates high-end schools such as Crawford and Trinity House, also experienced a lower growth in student numbers as South Africans battling high personal debt levels and stagnant economic growth opted for cheaper schools.

Enrolments at the company's schools edged up 3% for this year, lagging far behind its budget-friendly rival Curro Holdings, which recorded a 14% increase.

However, AdvTech's tertiary and recruitment divisions showed strong growth thanks to cross-border expansion that included investments in schools in Botswana and Zambia. It expects to open the first Crawford International School in Kenya this year. – Nampa/Reuters

Netcare gets clearance for Akeso takeover

South Africa's competition authority has approved private hospital firm Netcare's acquisition of Akeso Clinics after the company agreed to sell two hospitals and maintain a range of pricing levels, it said on Monday.

Netcare, South Africa's third-largest private hospital chain which also runs Britain's largest private hospital network, announced in 2016 the R1.3 billion acquisition of Akeso, a chain of psychiatric health facilities.

The Competition Commission had initially recommended that the takeover be blocked as it was likely to cause a substantial lessening of competition.

But the Competition Tribunal, which makes final rulings on the basis of recommendations from the Commission, said on Monday that Netcare had agreed to sell its Rand and Bell Street hospitals, both of which have psychiatric beds, and would maintain a range of prices at Akeso clinics. The deal was then conditionally approved by the Tribunal.

Akeso has 12 dedicated mental healthcare facilities, comprising 811 beds and located in various parts of South Africa, including Cape Town, George, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Nelspruit, Umhlanga and Pietermaritzburg. – Nampa/Reuters