COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Gold Fields to leave Johannesburg listingSouth African miner Gold Fields is considering leaving its Johannesburg listing, though a move would not eliminate its share price discount compared to global peers, chief executive Chris Griffith said.The bullion miner has sold most of its mines in the country as a widespread sell-off of South African assets by miners has raised speculation among investors that companies could seek to list elsewhere.AngloGold Ashanti has already said it plans to do so, and Gold Fields has in the past said it might also consider a move."It is a secondary consideration, and it is still something on the cards," Griffith, who was appointed chief executive in April from Anglo American Platinum, told Reuters in an interview."Yes, there may be some discount in our South African domiciliation. It would be lazy of us to say it's just because of where our post box address is."Griffith said Gold Fields needed to focus on delivering on projects for investors in order to deserve better valuations. -Nampa/ReutersSA's Woolworths restores dividendSouth African retailer Woolworths Holdings resumed dividend pay-outs after its annual profit surged and the sale of some Australian properties helped it to cut its debt.The clothing, food and homeware retailer had been renegotiating leases, reducing capital expenditure and cutting costs to help bolster its balance sheet. It has also sold Bourke Street Mens and Elizabeth Street properties in Australia, a part of its upmarket department chain David Jones.The group reduced net borrowings by over R10 billion to R1.1 billion, with a slight increase in free cash flow in the 52 weeks ended June 27, Group Financial Director Reeza Isaacs said."The significant reduction in our borrowings gives us greater scope in deploying our capital, one of which is resuming dividends," Isaacs told investors.The retailer declared a final dividend of 66 cents per share, a 25.8% decrease on the prior year's 89 cents. It had withheld dividends at the half year stage to preserve cash.Its 2022 financial year capex is seen at R2.8 billion, up from R1.4 billion in 2021 as it looks to aggressively invest in technology and its supply chain. -Nampa/ReutersSA's Massmart to sell 14 Game storesMassmart is disposing of all its general merchandise Game stores in West and East Africa to stem losses in that struggling business, chief executive Mitch Slape said on Friday, after the Walmart majority-owned retailer reported a narrower half-year loss.Like its peer Shoprite Holdings, forays into African markets including Nigeria have been marred by currency volatility and constrained consumer demand, making it difficult to operate profitably on the continent once touted as the next bright growth spot for retailers.As part of a turnaround plan to stabilise the business, Massmart had said it will review its store portfolio outside of Southern Africa. That review has now resulted in the disposal of 14 stores across Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania."The performance and the complexity in running those businesses is something that frankly we needed to address. We've commenced a formal sales process, we're currently in discussions with potential purchasers to take on those stores," Slape told investors.Through the disposal of non-core and underperforming assets and store closures, Massmart hopes to sharpen management's focus and invest in high returning assets and online. -Nampa/ReutersTexas city to offer Samsung tax breaksThe city of Taylor, Texas - one of two locations in the state under consideration by Samsung Electronics for a US$17 billion chip plant - plans to offer extensive property tax breaks if it is chosen by the South Korean tech giant.Taylor is competing with Austin, Texas to land the plant which is expected to create about 1,800 new jobs. Samsung has also said it is looking at other potential sites in Arizona and New York.A proposed resolution posted on the city's website shows that for the land Samsung will use, it is set to be offered a grant equivalent to 92.5% of assessed property tax for 10 years, 90% for the following 10 years and then 85% in the 10 years after that.Other measures include a 92.5% tax waiver on new property built on the site for 10 years and the repayment of development review costs. The proposed resolution will be considered on Wednesday by the Taylor City Council and Williamson County Commissioners.The Taylor site is located about 40 kilometres from Austin. It is about 4.81 square kilometres in size, much bigger than the Austin site. Samsung last year purchased more than 250 acres in Austin, which is in addition to 350 acres it owns that includes its sole US chip factory. -Nampa/ReutersJ&J to proceed with a proposed settlementThree large US drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will proceed with a proposed US$26 billion settlement resolving claims that they fuelled the opioid epidemic after "enough" states joined in, the companies said on Saturday.The companies had until Saturday to decide whether enough states back the US$21 billion proposed settlement with McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc and a US$5 billion agreement with J&J.Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Washington, West Virginia are not participating in the settlement, a person familiar with the matter said. New Hampshire agreed to settle only with the distributors, while Rhode Island joined only J&J’s deal, the person said.The companies will make their first annual settlement payment into escrow on or before Sept. 30, the distributors said. The final amount will depend on several factors, including the final participation rate of states and political subdivisions, they added.North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a lead settlement negotiator, called the support level a "remarkable showing of unity and commitment across the country to address this problem."-Nampa/Reuters

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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