Company news in brief

Aspen to get help from IFCGlobal development groups including International Finance Corp (IFC) said they will explore helping African producers such as Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd boost vaccine manufacturing in Africa, which received relatively few Covid-19 immunisations produced by rich nations.The news comes after the European Union last week promised 1 billion euro to build vaccination manufacturing hubs in Africa. France's president Emmanuel Macron also promised on Friday to help the continent produce more vaccines locally.IFC's partners, including US International Development Finance Corp (DFC), Proparco and German Development Finance Institution, said they will provide financing to manufacturers to strengthen vaccine production capacity, build technical skills and enable knowledge sharing.The financing is intended to help Africa respond to Covid-19 and future pandemics, but no timeline was specified for the effort."Increasing the production of vaccines in Africa for Africa will save lives and diversify the global supply chain for vaccines," DFC chief operating officer David Marchick said. – Nampa/ReutersMr Price resumes final dividendSouth Africa's Mr Price said on Thursday it would pay a final dividend after full-year profit rose 1.9% on a strong second half and as it captured a bigger share of the market, pushing its shares to a two-year high.The budget clothing and homeware retailer, benefitting from value-seeking shoppers, declared a final dividend of 462.7 cents per share, having skipped a pay-out a year ago.It gained 1.2 billion rand in market share, with its clothing business gaining ground every month, chief executive Mark Blair said.For the 2020 year, diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS), the main profit measure in South Africa, ticked up to 1 049 cents in the 53 weeks ended April 3, from 1 029.4 cents a year earlier. Diluted HEPS in the second half grew 21.4%.Total revenue from continuing operations fell 2.9% to R22.3 billion, with retail sales falling 2.4%. Online sales grew 64.1%, more than doubling in Mr Price apparel and Mr Price sport. – Nampa/ReutersGazprom earnings recoverRussian energy giant Gazprom said Friday its earnings had recovered in the first quarter after last year's fall in demand and prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The group reported a net profit of 447.26 billion rubles (US$6.1 billion) in the first three months of the year, compared to 135 billion rubles for all of 2020.Its sales between January and March were up more than 30% year-on-year at 2.29 trillion rubles.Gas exports to Europe, from which Gazprom derives the bulk of its profits, were up more than 25% in the first quarter, with average prices in rubles also increasing by more than a third year-on-year.In 2021 Gazprom expects to increase the volume of its gas imports to Europe by five percent. – Nampa/AFPCold water on Airbus output increaseThe airline industry's most senior representative on Friday cast doubt on plans by Europe's Airbus for sharp increases in jetliner production, saying they appeared overly optimistic.Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), voiced scepticism a day after Airbus published proposals to almost double single-aisle production to as high as 75 jets a month by 2025."Let's wait and see, because obviously there is a huge disconnect between what the manufacturers say they're going to produce and what the airlines decide to buy," he told Reuters.Geneva-based IATA has no day-to-day role in aircraft negotiations, but Walsh was for years among the most influential buyers as the former head of British Airways and then its parent group IAG.Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury defended the increases on Thursday, telling Reuters that pent-up demand for flights on medium-haul jets was "very strong". – Nampa/ReutersTotalEnergies: French oil major rebrandsOil and gas group Total won more than 90% backing for its climate plan to gradually reduce its emissions on Friday, when shareholders also voted overwhelmingly in favour of its rebrand as TotalEnergies to mark its shift to renewable energy.Some shareholders had campaigned for a pushback against Total's green goals, on the basis they were not ambitious enough, echoing growing investor rebellions in the sector.Demands for oil companies to move away from fossil fuel reached a crescendo this week as a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to greatly increase greenhouse emission cuts and Exxon Mobil battled with an activist investor over its record on climate change.Total's climate strategy, which lays out its aim to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, was backed by 91.88% of shareholders voting at its annual meeting.Total is investing heavily in a pivot towards renewable energy with solar or wind power projects. – Nampa/Reuters

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