Company news in brief

Steinhoff fined for misleading markets

South Africa's market regulator has fined retailer Steinhoff a record R53 million for making "false, misleading or deceptive statements" to the market, the company said on Thursday.

Steinhoff disclosed the hole in its accounts in December 2017 which shocked investors and wiped more than R200 billion off its stock market value.

The company said the penalty would have been R1.5 billion, but was reduced in recognition of the fact that the fraud was perpetrated by former employees and that the company had cooperated with regulators.

"Even after this reduction it remains the largest single fine ever imposed by the FSCA,”Steinhoff said in a statement, quoting the regulator.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) ruled that multiple, significant restatements of the company's accounts after December 2017 supported the conclusion that Steinhoff failed to meet its obligations under the Financial Markets Act. – Nampa/Reuters

Old Mutual confident of victory in CEO battle

Old Mutual's chairman Trevor Manuel said the board had no intention of stepping down and wanted to set the record straight in court to put an end to a dispute with sacked CEO Peter Moyo.

According to court papers, Moyo, who was fired in June over a conflict of interest, has accused Manuel, a prominent businessman and former finance minister, and other members of the board of breaching governance principles and wants the board to be declared delinquent.

The very public spat has knocked nearly 10% off the 173-year-old insurer's share price forcing it to launch its second share buyback of the year in a bid to bolster its stock price.

On Friday Manuel told journalists the board intended to remain in place, adding "the board is solidly behind what has happened every step of the way."

Old Mutual has talked with its shareholders, including the two largest shareholders Allan Gray and the Public Investment Corporation, and they have not raised any issues on the credibility of the board and how the dispute is being handled, Manuel added. – Nampa/Reuters

Nestle aims to develop packaging of the future

Nestle has set up a research institute to develop more environmentally friendly packaging for its products and reduce plastic waste, taking matters into its own hands rather than relying on its suppliers.

Having been identified by environmental group Greenpeace as one of the biggest producers of plastic waste that is polluting landfill sites and oceans, Nestle has also been criticised for its lack of action to address the problem.

"It's our name on the package, so we want to be in the driver's seat when it comes to developing solutions," Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider said on Thursday at the inauguration of the Nestle Institute of Packaging Sciences in Lausanne.

The maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe instant coffee has vowed to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 - one of the focus areas of the new institute in Lausanne, western Switzerland.

Nestle also said it wanted to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, following in the footsteps container shipping giant Maersk, which made the same pledge last year. – Nampa/Reuters

LSE rejects Hong Kong's takeover offer

The London Stock Exchange emphatically rejected the Hong Kong bourse's US$39 billion takeover offer on Friday, opting to stick with its planned purchase of data and analytics group Refinitiv.

The LSE told HKEX in a letter that it had fundamental concerns about key aspects of the proposal which it said had no strategic merit, and that HKEX's relationship with the Hong Kong government would "complicate matters".

HKEX's valuation of the LSE falls "substantially short" and the "ongoing situation in Hong Kong" adds to uncertainty for shareholders, the London bourse added, a reference to weeks of pro-democracy street protests in the former British colony.

The LSE also said a Hong Kong takeover could well be rejected by regulators or governments in Britain, the United States and Italy. HKEX's assertion that implementing the deal would be swift and certain "is simply not credible", it added.

The London course also owns the Milan exchange and has a significant American presence through its FTSE Russell index subsidiary and LCH, its derivatives clearing house which dominates the US dollar swap market. – Nampa/Reuters

WeWork considers valuation cut in IPO

WeWork owner The We Company may seek a valuation in its upcoming initial public offering of between US$10 billion and US$12 billion, a dramatic discount to the US$47 billion valuation it achieved in January, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Were the We Company to press on with the IPO at such a low valuation, it would represent a major turning point in the venture capital industry's growth over the last decade, which has led to the rise of startups such as Uber Technologies Inc, Snap Inc and Airbnb Inc.

It would mean that the We Company would be at valued less than the US$12.8 billion in equity it has raised since it was founded in 2010, according to data provider Crunchbase. And it would be a blow to its biggest backer, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, at a time it is trying to amass US$108 billion from investors for its second Vision Fund.

The sources cautioned that no decision has been made and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. WeWork and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The We Company is under pressure to proceed with the IPO, despite the big valuation drop, to secure funding for its operations. It rents out workspace to clients under short-term contracts, even though it pays rent for them itself under long-term leases. – Nampa/Reuters