Company news in brief

Massmart flags wider annual lossSouth African retailer Massmart Holdings flagged a wider annual loss, due to store damages and lost trading income suffered due to looting in July during protests over former president Jacob Zuma's imprisonment.The retailer, majority-owned by Walmart Inc, said its headline loss per share, the main profit measure in South Africa, will be at least 40% worse than the reported headline loss per share reported in 2020 of 426.8 cents.Headline earnings included the impact of the significant inventory write-off because of the looting that erupted after Zuma turned himself in to be jailed for contempt of court in July. The looting directly impacted 43 of its stores, with brands such as Game and Makro.In total the looting cost R2.5 billion in stolen goods and damaged assets, with an accounting loss of around R650 million after insurance proceeds.The retailer said it was considering selling 15 inadequately performing Game stores. - ReutersEskom splits off transmission divisionSouth African power utility Eskom said it had executed the separation of its transmission division, subject to certain conditions, in line with an end-December deadline set in a restructuring plan.President Cyril Ramaphosa said in 2019 that the debt-laden utility would be split into three divisions - generation, transmission and distribution - to improve management of a company that has relied heavily on government bail outs and frequently implements nationwide power cuts.Under the plan, its generation and transmission units had to be separated by the end of December 2021 and the distribution division by December 2022.Eskom said in a statement to debt investors it had now executed an order to transfer the transmission division to wholly-owned subsidiary the National Transmission Company South Africa SOC Limited.It said this remained subject to conditions, including obtaining the applicable consents from creditors. - ReutersMaersk agrees logistics deal in HKContainer shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk has agreed to buy Hong Kong-based LF Logistics for US$3.6 billion in an all-cash deal, it said yesterday, as it seeks to expand beyond its core ocean freight business.The deal is one of the group's largest takeovers to date and follows a series of acquisitions including e-commerce firms, a freight forwarder specialised in air freight and its smaller rival Hamburg Sud."The acquisition will further strengthen Maersk's capabilities as an integrated container logistics company, offering global end-to-end supply chain solutions to its customers," the company said in a statement.LF Logistics provides land-based logistic services such as warehousing and trucking across Asia to over 250 global customers.The deal is expected to close in 2022, Maersk said. - ReutersBlackBerry revenue beats estimatesBlackBerry Ltd, beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue, helped by sustained demand for its cybersecurity and Internet of Things products.Demand for cybersecurity software has been robust as more businesses and government organisations migrate to cloud-based solutions to support remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic.BlackBerry posted third-quarter cybersecurity revenue of US$128 million and forecast that to be between US$125 million and US$135 million in the fourth quarter, below an estimate of US$143 million by one analyst, according to Refinitiv data.BlackBerry reported a net profit of US$74 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of US$130 million a year earlier.Revenue fell to US$184 million for the quarter ended Nov. 30, from US$218 million a year earlier, but beat analysts' average expectation of US$177.25 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. - ReutersEmbraer shares soar on listing newsShares of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA soared on Tuesday after the company said it had agreed to combine its electric aircraft subsidiary Eve with Zanite SPAC and list it on the New York Stock Exchange.The transaction values Eve's equity at US$2.9 billion and will include the combination with Zanite Acquisition Corp and an additional investment by a group of investors that includes Embraer, Zanite, financial investors and strategic partners such as Azorra Aviation, BAE Systems, Republic Airways, Rolls-Royce and SkyWest Inc.After the transactions, Eve - which will be listed on NYSE under the ticker EVEX - will have a US$512 million cash position that will be used to develop its flying taxi. The firm is expected to start trading in the second quarter of 2022, after the closing of the deal with Zanite.Eve already has an order pipeline of more than US$5 billion. Among the customers with pre-orders are lessors, helicopter operators and ride-sharing companies.Embraer will own more than 80% of Eve after the SPAC combination and additional investment from the group. Eve's cash position is expected to be enough to fund the flying taxi development through its certification, expected for 2025, Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto said. - Reuters

Company news in brief

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Republikein 2025-11-04

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