Company news in briefs

Spur to further defer interim dividendSouth African franchise restaurant chain Spur Corporation said on Thursday it will further defer payment of its 2020 interim dividend in order to preserve cash during the Covid-19 pandemic.Spur, with more than 600 restaurants across South Africa, the rest of Africa, Mauritius, Australasia and the Middle East, had notified shareholders at the beginning of the nationwide lockdown in March that it would defer payment until Oct. 5.Since the reopening of its restaurants and easing of some restrictions, Spur said it is confident that the group's current cash reserves will be sufficient for the foreseeable future as trading recovers.However, paying the dividend would significantly reduce the group's available cash reserves and would result in a cash deficit should more stringent trading restrictions be re-imposed or current restrictions be extended over the long term.Following the total prohibition of restaurant trading in April, Spur's franchised restaurant sales declined by 85.7% for May and by 79.0% for June, as restaurants were restricted to deliveries only in May and to deliveries and takeaways in June. – Nampa/ReutersEskom suspends managersSouth Africa's state run power utility Eskom has suspended the managers of two power stations it blames for exacerbating breakdowns leading to widespread power outages, it said on Friday.Eskom blamed breakdowns at its power stations.In a statement it said it had suspended the managers of the Tutuka and Kendal power stations pending disciplinary inquiries. Further interventions are ongoing at the Kriel and Duvha power stations, the firm said."Whilst it is true that the ageing fleet is plagued by legacy issues of neglect and omitted maintenance and is therefore susceptible to unpredictable breakdowns, it is also true that the situation is exacerbated by serious issues of apathetic behaviour by some management staff," said Eskom.Eskom said there was 5 000 MW of capacity currently on planned maintenance and 10 950 MW, about 12 units, lost to unplanned breakdowns. This has resulted in an energy demand deficit of about 3 000 MW, aggravated by higher demand during this week's cold front. – Nampa/ReutersGhana court dismisses MTN's challengeA high court in Ghana has dismissed the local MTN unit's challenge to a move by the national telecommunications regulator aimed at exposing it to greater competition, the company said on Thursday.In June, MTN appealed a decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to designate it a significant market power, a move that requires the regulator to take corrective action.But in a Sept. 1 decision, the court "dismissed the company’s application," MTN said in a statement.It said it maintained its position that the NCA's decision was unfair from a procedural standpoint and would "explore all available options and next steps in this process," without giving further details.Statistics from the NCA showed MTN's share in mobile data subscriptions accounted for almost 70% of the market from January to March.Truworths provides funding to OfficeSouth African retailer Truworths International Ltd said on Thursday it will advance funding of 6.5 million pounds (US$8.62 million) to its British footwear unit Office as part of a rescue plan.The group as a whole, which sells clothes, jewellery and homeware, as well as shoes, has been hit by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and store closures because of lockdowns.On Thursday, it said its headline earnings per share, South Africa's most closely-watched profit figure, fell by 28.2% in the year to June 28.Group retail sales fell by 9.2% to R16.9 billion after Truworths was unable to trade from stores or online in South Africa for five weeks, while debt collection from shoppers who buy on credit fell significantly.Credit sales of the Truworths Africa business comprise 70% of retail sales in that unit. Impairments totalling US$165.28 million swung the company to a trading loss of R1.3 billion from a profit of R459 million. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in briefs

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