Company news in brief

Sanlam sees challenges aheadSouth Africa's biggest insurer, Sanlam, said on Wednesday it expects the operating environment to remain challenging for the rest of 2020 and into 2021, as it posted higher headline earnings per share (HEPS) for 10 months.The company said HEPS rose by 4% for the 10 months ending Oct. 31, with the operating environment improving since June as governments eased coronavirus curbs, supporting sales from Sanlam's traditional life insurance distribution channels. – Nampa/ReutersNew SA airline Lift takes offA new domestic South African airline launched on Wednesday, betting on low operating costs and oil prices to withstand an industry crisis that has left national flagship SAA struggling to survive and sunk other low-cost carriers.The new carrier, Lift, part-founded by former Uber Africa executive Jonathan Ayache and Gidon Novick, who ran low-cost flyer kulala.com, said it planned to avoid a cash-heavy operational model that hit its rivals.Lift will fly 4th generation Airbus A320 aircraft leased from Global Aviation Operations, a South African-based charter firm. All of Lift's seats will be economy, and will operate between commercial hub Johannesburg and tourist favourite Cape Town.It will compete directly with the state-owned South African Airways (SAA) subsidiary Mango, market leader kulala.com, and FlySafair among others.Lift is betting on a return of tourists and business travellers, and what it sees as historically lower entry costs. Lift would not say what passenger numbers it was targeting. – Nampa/ReutersMTN: US families file court papersFamilies of hundreds of US soldiers who are suing South African telecoms firm MTN for allegedly aiding militant groups in Afghanistan have filed papers challenging the firm's argument that the case should not be heard in the United States.The original suit, filed in December 2019 in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia, alleges that MTN violated the US Anti-Terrorism Act by paying protection money to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.MTN, Africa's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has denied the allegations, and reiterated Wednesday it would "defend its position accordingly."The case centres around allegations that MTN paid more than US$100 million to al-Qaeda and the Taliban so its cellular towers would not be targeted for destruction. MTN deactivated those towers at night, preventing US intelligence operations, according to the suit. – Nampa/ReutersDistell confident of hangover cureDistell chief executive Richard Rushton said efforts to build up the company's continental operations and make its domestic manufacturing base more efficient were starting to bear fruit.Rushton said the number of outlets selling the company's products elsewhere in Africa is on course to hit 32 000 by year-end, up from 12 000 a year ago, giving Distell greater growth prospects beyond its home market."We're a long-term investment business ... So investors have to come along for the ride," he said.The company has spent R3.87 billion on expanding its capacity, including manufacturing and distribution, since 2015 - a spending phase the company says is now largely over.In the year to June 30, group revenues fell nearly 15% to R22.4 billion, while EBITDA nearly halved to R1.84 billion when adjusted to account for developments such as foreign exchange movements and restructuring costs in the prior year. – Nampa/ReutersSafaricom expects M-Pesa price curbs to be liftedKenya's biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom, expects to be able to end coronavirus-related price cuts at its M-Pesa business at the end of the year, its CEO said on Tuesday.M-Pesa, which is used to send money, save, borrow and make payments for goods and services, is one of the most popular modes of payment in Kenya. At the end September it had nearly 27 million active users in a population of 47 million.Safaricom, part-owned by South Africa's Vodacom and Britain's Vodafone, removed all charges on small peer-to-peer transfers in March to facilitate cashless payments during the Covid-19 pandemic.The move was ordered by the central bank, which also directed commercial banks to remove charges on customers' cash transfers to mobile wallets until the end of the year.Safaricom's core first-half earnings dropped 10.5% year on year, hit by a 14.5% decline in M-Pesa revenue. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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