COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Pick n Pay surges as price hikes boost profit

Shares in Pick n Pay surged almost 7% on Monday afternoon after the retailer flagged double-digit sales and earnings growth supported by a strong performance from its value brand Boxer and higher prices.

Pick n Pay expects sales growth of 11.5% for the 26 weeks ended 28 August, with like-for-like sales up some 7.4%.

Headline earnings were expected to be 20 to 30% higher.

The sales growth was primarily driven by a strong performance from Boxer, with the company saying the year-on-year sales growth from the Pick n Pay supermarkets upgraded to new "customer value propositions" had been "particularly encouraging".

However, the company said the upgraded stores "do not yet constitute a substantial enough proportion of the estate to meaningfully impact the overall performance of the Pick n Pay brand".

The retailer earlier this year split its core Pick n Pay offering into two distinct brands as it looks to make further inroads to the discount, convenience, and premium market segments. Pick n Pay serves higher-income customers, while Pick n Pay QualiSave focuses on customers in the growing middle market. -Fin24

Prosus deal to buy BillDesk falls through

Prosus, the consumer internet arm of Naspers, says its US$4.7 billion deal to buy Indian digital payments provider BillDesk has fallen through after the transaction failed to meet certain conditions by the end of September.

The transaction, announced in August 2021, was subject to the fulfilment of various conditions, including approval by the Competition Commission of India which was received on September 5, Prosus said in a statement. However "certain conditions" were not met by 30 September, the firm said without going into details, adding that the "proposed transaction will not be implemented".

In response to questions, Prosus declined to comment further on the outstanding conditions, but said that "India continues to be a very important market for Prosus and PayU."

Bloomberg reported that BillDesk will pursue all options to keep the deal alive, citing two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing sensitive information. A second and final regulatory clearance from with India’s financial regulator the Reserve Bank of India, was needed for the deal to be completed. An application with the central bank was submitted, one of the people said.

BillDesk, founded by three consultants from Arthur Andersen LLP more than two decades ago, benefited from a surge in growth in digital payments as Indians adopted smartphones and Internet access became ubiquitous. The founders stood to collect US$500 million each from the deal, Bloomberg News reported when it was announced. –Fin24

SAP to pay back another R81 million

The South African operations of German software giant SAP have been ordered to pay another R81 million linked to corrupt contracts to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

The payments related to the sale of SAP software licences and support contracts to the department in 2015 and 2016. An investigation conducted by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found both contracts to be unlawful.

The unit found that the December 2015 contract was signed despite there being no need for it. A previous agreement concluded in 2012 with SAP was only set to expire at the end of December 2016, meaning it had a year left to run.

In addition, the multimillion-rand contract had not been budgeted for by the department and payments to SAP had not been approved.

In 2016, meanwhile, the department secured additional licences from SAP. The contract was signed despite the department's chief information officer saying there was no need for the licences.

The SIU said that the two contacts also contravened a host of Treasury and departmental regulations about how contracts must be signed or extended.

In its application to the Special Tribunal - which hears cases brought by the SIU - the SIU said that the department had received no benefit from the contracts as they had never been implemented.-Fin24

Two unions plan strike at Transnet

Two unions plan to strike at Transnet in the next week after rejecting the rail utility’s wage offer. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) plans to down tools as early as Monday, while the United National Transport Union (UNTU) said it served a 48-hour notice on Transnet of its intention to embark on a protected strike from Thursday.

Satawu and UNTU are demanding between 12% and 13.5%.

Transnet's offer includes a wage increase of 1.5% from this month and a thirteenth cheque, among other benefits. The entity said it wants to keep a grip on its finances, as its wage bill makes up 66% of its operating costs.

However, Satawu rejected this offer.

"The union will serve the employer with a 48-hour notice to strike on Tuesday. After issuing the 48-hour notice, workers will commence on protected strike action on Monday, 10 October 2022," Satawu said in a statement.

Transnet said in a statement that it applied to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to convene conciliation discussions over the current wage negotiations.

"This follows the unions' rejection yesterday [Monday] of a new offer which the company firmly believes is fair and reasonable given the current financial and operational challenges," the statement said.-Fin24