COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Absa appoints Arrie Rautenbach as CEOAlmost a year after Daniel Mminele quit as Absa CEO, the banking group appointed a new CEO. Arrie Rautenbach is currently Absa’s head of retail and business banking, and becomes CEO with immediate effect.Rautenbach has been with Absa since 1997 and has held several senior roles, including chief risk officer, as well as head of its card and branch network divisions."His extensive experience in the banking sector, his in-depth knowledge of Absa through several executive roles over the years, and his experience and strengths in strategy development and execution for the group, positions him ideally to lead the group at this time," the bank said in a statement.Rautenbach holds an MBA from the University of North-West and completed an Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD.Jason Quinn, currently the group’s interim CEO, will return to his role as financial director, while Punki Modise, currently interim financial director, will take the position of interim head of retail and business banking. -Fin24/BloombergTiger Brands invests in vegan foodA new venture capital fund launched by Tiger Brands, owner of brands like All Gold, Black Cat and Koo, has announced its first investment: a company that produces plant-based and vegan products.Herbivore Earthfoods is a Cape Town-based, women-founded business which was started in 2014 with the aim of making plant-based foods affordable in South Africa.Tiger Brands’ venture capital fund was launched in mid-2021 with the aim of driving growth for the company by investing in innovative businesses based in sub-Saharan Africa which offer healthier eating options in line with the latest consumer trends.Together with private equity firm Secha Capital as co-investor, the fund has become a minority shareholder in Herbivore Earthfoods."Our investment is a compelling opportunity, where we are very proud to back innovative entrepreneurs. Our partnership with the Herbivore team will involve leveraging each other&#039;s combined strengths to achieve their growth strategy and to push the boundaries of an affordable and healthy alternative product offering to consumers," says Barati Mahloele, Venture Capital Fund director of Tiger Brands. -Fin24/BloombergWalmart ends cigarette sales Walmart will no longer sell cigarettes in some of its stores although tobacco sales can be a significant revenue generator.Wall Street Journal was the first to report the development Monday. It noted some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico were on the list, citing anonymous sources and store visits.Walmart is not the first national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales even on a trial basis, but it is the largest.Target ended cigarette sales in 1996 and the chemist chain CVS Health did the same in 2014.CVS Health sales in areas outside the pharmacy fell for a few quarters after it pulled tobacco products, and the company had predicted that missing tobacco products would hurt annual earnings by seven to eight cents per share. -Fin24/BloombergSA to offer Moderna booster shotsModerna’s coronavirus vaccine will be offered as a booster to some South African health workers, who received either one or two shots of Johnson & Johnson’s inoculation as part of a vaccine trial involving almost half a million people.The Moderna shot will be offered to 10 000 health workers in a trial known as Sherpa that is likely to start in the second half of April, said Glenda Gray, the co-lead of J&J’s vaccine trials in South Africa and president of the South African Medical Research Council.The aim of the study, which will target participants in the earlier Sisonke trial, is to compare how well the Moderna shot works in comparison to Pfizer’s shot as a boost, Gray said in an interview on Monday. Pfizer’s inoculation is being offered as a booster by the South African government.South Africa, which together with Botswana was the first country to announce the discovery of the omicron variant in November, has seen coronavirus cases plunge, but its test positivity rate has stuck stubbornly above 5%, indicating that the virus is still circulating. Another wave of infections is expected in about May, according to Gray.On Sunday, the country tallied 989 new infections with a test positivity rate of 5.9%. -Fin24/BloombergHuawei reports record net profitChinese telecoms giant Huawei on Monday reported record profit for 2021, defying the US sanctions aimed at it as executive Meng Wanzhou made her first public appearance since returning to China from Canadian custody.The company has been caught in the crosshairs of a US-China trade and technology rivalry, with the administration of former President Donald Trump moving to cripple it over cybersecurity and espionage concerns.The results, announced in Chinese tech hub Shenzhen, also marked the first return to the limelight of Meng since her high-profile return to China after nearly three years under house arrest in Canada.Meng, daughter of CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei, spent the years in Canada fighting extradition to the US, as Washington accused her of defrauding HSBC bank by trying to hide alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran.She returned home shortly after two Canadians were released from prison in China, ending a diplomatic row that poisoned ties between Beijing and Ottawa for years. -Fin24/Bloomberg

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Republikein 2025-11-05

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