Company news in brief

SAA’s job cuts could save R700 mln

South Africa's struggling state-owned airline South African Airways (SAA) could cut more than 900 jobs as part of a restructuring plan which will be finalised by March next year and should save the firm R700 million.

Martin Kemp, chief executive of South African Airways unit Air Chefs, did not clarify whether the amount would be a recurring or one-time saving.

SAA said it had started consultations with its more than 5 000 staff and was talking to labour unions.

The airline has not made an annual profit since 2011 and is grappling with a funding gap of R21.7 billion on top of an ageing fleet of airplanes.

Unions have already rejected president Cyril Ramaphosa's plan to split and trim down state firm Eskom, which is also set start restructuring in 2020.

The SAA plan is likely to face the same fate amid record levels of unemployment and economic growth barely topping 1%. – Nampa/Reuters

AMCU union seals platinum wage deals

South Africa's biggest platinum mining union has sealed wage agreements with Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum, and Sibanye-Stillwater, the union said in a statement sent to media on Tuesday.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has been negotiating with the country's biggest platinum miners since June, and in October referred the dispute with Amplats and Sibanye-Stillwater to a government dispute resolution body.

The signing ceremony took place yesterday in Muldersdrift, a town in South Africa's platinum mining heartlands 30 kms northwest of Johannesburg, AMCU said. – Nampa/Reuters

BRICS considers adding countries to bank

Leaders of the BRICS group of leading emerging economy nations meeting this week will discuss opening their development bank to other countries to increase its capital to fund infrastructure and other projects, diplomats and the bank's head said.

The New Development Bank (NDB) launched in 2014 by China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa has a subscribed capital of US$50 billion, of which US$10 billion is paid capital.

NDB President KV Kamath said the bank's membership is open to all members of the United Nations and its mandate is to mobilise funds for sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.

"The membership will be expanded gradually," he told Reuters in an interview by email but declined to name any countries.

Kamath rebuffed criticism that the bank has taken a long time to deliver loans to help boost economies amid slowing global growth.

As of Monday, the bank's total project approvals stood at US$12.5 billion for 45 projects. In 2019 alone it approved 14 loans worth US$4.4 billion, he said. – Nampa/Reuters

ABN Amro takes huge profit hit

ABN yesterday reported a more-than-expected 24% drop in third-quarter net profit, to 558 million euro, due to higher costs for client oversight as the lender tries to come to terms with strict anti-money laundering rules.

Dutch prosecutors in September started an investigation into ABN Amro, one of three dominant banks in the Netherlands, which they say for years failed to detect money laundering and to report suspicious transactions.

Banks have been forced to keep better track of client behaviour after Dutch bank ING was forced to pay a record US$900 million fine in September last year for neglecting criminal activity financed through its accounts.

ABN Amro also said it would not charge negative interest on deposits up to 100 000 euro, as it comes under political pressure to shield retail clients from the effects of ultra-low interest rates.

European banks are grappling with the consequences of the European Central Bank's September decision to cut its key deposit rate further into negative territory, making it tougher for them to earn money from their traditional lending business. – Nampa/Reuters

Tencent Music's quarterly revenue up

China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue on Monday, as the streaming company added more paying users.

However, it recorded the slowest rise in a widely watched metric for its biggest business, social entertainment services, which executives attributed to growing competition.

The company's monthly average revenue per paying user from its social entertainment services unit rose 7.4% to 127.3 yuan (US$18.20), the slowest growth since it went public in December.

"We recognise that it may be slightly below where we previously thought it would be," Tony Yip, chief strategy officer, said on a conference call. "That's primarily because of increasing competition that we are facing with the short video platforms." – Nampa/Reuters