Company news in brief

Tiger Brands H1 earnings plungeSouth African food producer Tiger Brands said yesterday it is looking at "significant" job cuts and won't pay an interim dividend as its business is hit by supply disruptions and margin pressures due to the impact of the coronavirus.The owner of Jungle Oats and Tastic rice said first-half headline earnings fell 35% and it expects coronavirus-related costs of about R500 million to hit profit in the second half due to rand weakness, global supply chain disruptions and additional costs incurred during a lockdown in South Africa to curb the spread of the virus.As a result the company has started looking at cost-cutting measures, including possibly "significant" job cuts, chief executive Noel Doyle told reporters in a media call.Tiger Brands employs more than 11 200 people in South Africa, excluding seasonal staff, a company spokesperson said.Headline earnings per share from continuing operations fell to 501 cents in the six months ended March 31, the company said, from 773 cents in the same period last year. Pretax profit from continuing operations fell 65% to R673 million. – Nampa/ReutersNedbank warns on profitNedbank said on Friday it expects headline earnings per share for the six months ending in June 30 to be 20% lower year-on-year, as it navigates through the financial market volatility caused by the coronavirus crisis.Nedbank, one of South Africa's four largest lenders, also said its credit loss ratio for the first quarter edged towards the top half of its target range of 60-100 basis points."While the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown emerged in March and financial market volatility in late March was extreme, impacts on our client base became more evident in April 2020 and are expected to continue," the company said. – Nampa/ReutersAnglo explores sale in SAAnglo American is still exploring a sale of its thermal coal assets in South Africa as an alternative to spinning off and listing the business, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.Mining companies are under pressure to stop mining coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, from investors and governments keen to switch to cleaner fuels.London-listed Anglo said earlier this month that it would spin off its last remaining coal assets in South Africa and list them in Johannesburg. Sources say an outright sale of Anglo American's coal mines was still on the cards.When asked for comment, Anglo referred Reuters to a response to shareholders in May saying the company would continue to consider other exit options.Chief executive Mark Cutifani told Reuters in February that the company had already received interest from potential buyers both inside and outside of South Africa."Launching a sale process is designed to help Anglo generate some positive tension over the pricing of listing," one of the sources said. – Nampa/ReutersBarrick's Tanzania gold cleared for exportGold concentrate containers belonging to Barrick's Tanzania subsidiary Twiga Minerals have been cleared for export, four months after the government lifted an export ban imposed during a tax dispute, a minerals ministry official told Reuters.The dispute originally involved Acacia Mining, which was taken over by Barrick last year. Tanzania's government imposed a ban on exporting mineral concentrates in 2017 after accusing Acacia of tax evasion.Tanzania committed to lifting an export ban on Barrick's gold on January 24 when the two parties signed a deal in which the government took a 16% stake in the new joint venture Twiga Minerals, ending the dispute.Barrick CEO Mark Bristow told Reuters on Jan. 27 the gold was worth US$260-US$280 million.The four-month wait to export the containers has played in Barrick's favour: since then the price of gold has climbed about 9% as investors snapped up the precious metal considered a safe haven amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Barrick declined to comment when asked about the export. – Nampa/ReutersHertz files for US bankruptcy protectionThe more than a century old car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday after its business was decimated during the coronavirus pandemic and talks with creditors failed to result in much needed relief.Hertz's board earlier in the day approved the company seeking Chapter 11 protection in a US bankruptcy court in Delaware, according to court records. Its international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the US proceedings, the company said.The firm, whose largest shareholder is billionaire investor Carl Icahn with a nearly 39% ownership stake, is reeling from government orders restricting travel and requiring citizens to remain home. A large portion of Hertz's revenue comes from car rentals at airports, which have all but evaporated as potential customers eschew plane travel.With nearly US$19 billion of debt and roughly 38 000 employees worldwide as of the end of 2019, Hertz is among the largest companies to be undone by the pandemic. US airlines have so far avoided similar fates after receiving billions of dollars in government aid, an avenue Hertz has explored without success. – Nampa/Reuters

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