COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Sven Thieme, others resign from NamBrew board

Business icon Sven Thieme has resigned from the board of Namibia Breweries Ltd, following Heineken N.V. taking control of the local beer giant on Friday. After over a century as an iconic company in which Namibians had the largest say, Heineken N.V. - the world’s second-largest brewer - officially became the majority shareholder in NamBrew on Friday. Heineken now owns all of NBL Investment Holdings (NBLIH), which owns 59.4% of the shares in NamBrew on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX). The Dutch beer giant acquired Ohlthaver & List’s (O&L) 50.01% stake in NBLIH in a multi-billion transaction, having already owned 49.99%. Thieme is the chairman of O&L. Thieme’s resignation became effective on Friday. Other NBL directors who resigned on Friday are: Wessie van der Westhuizen, Peter Gruttemeyer, Laura McLeod-Katjirua, Steven Lucien Marie Siemer, Gunther Hanke and Pascal Sabrie. The new board of directors of NamBrew are: Hans Bruno Gerdes, Vetumbuavi Junius Mungunda, Afra Schimming-Chase, Roland Jacques M Pirmez (Ecuyer), Jan Jonathan Durand, Jordi Borrut Bel, Yeliz Yedikardesler, Kevin Santry, Amos Jerobeam Hingashipwa Shiyuka, Martina Kebiditsemang Mokgatle, Waldemar von Lieres und Wilkau and Petrus Maria Johannes Simons. Simons was also appointed as the new managing director of NBL, effective Friday. He replaces Marco Wenk. Simons has held various senior executive roles within the Heineken Group in South Africa, Vietnam and New Zealand during his long career at Heineken, NamBrew said in an announcement on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX). NBL closed at N$32.01 per share on the Local Index of the NSX on Monday, unchanged from Friday. - Jo-Maré Duddy

Jobs under threat at Pick n Pay

Pick n Pay has embarked on a retrenchment process that could affect up to 700 junior management jobs.

The JSE-listed retailer confirmed on Monday it was in the early stages of a retrenchment programme, which is currently before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

David North, chief business transformation officer at Pick n Pay, told News24 the retailer could not release any numbers on potential job losses as it was still consulting with staff.

However, News24 understands that up to 700 junior manager jobs could be affected. Pick n Pay has some 90 000 employees.

Pick n Pay is expected to create new junior level jobs across its supermarkets as it rolls out a new strategy announced in May last year that splits its core Pick n Pay offering into two distinct brands, namely Pick n Pay and Pick n Pay QualiSave.

News24 understands that this may result in the company ending up with more staff overall than it currently has.

North said the company was "modernising" its store management structures, removing roles which were no longer required.

"But we are also creating new roles that provide greater service and flexibility in our stores. While some roles will no longer be required, others will be created. Overall more jobs will be created in stores than exist at present. If staff are prepared to be flexible about [their] roles, then there may well be jobs for them and there will be more jobs overall than there were at the beginning of the process.-Fin24

Hanekom appointed new SAA interim chair

Former Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom is the new interim chairperson of South African Airways (SAA), while the previous interim chair John Lamola will remain as interim CEO and director.

The state-owned airline's shareholder, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) announced the appointment of an interim board of directors on Monday afternoon.

"Hanekom's experience in fostering collaboration between government and private sectors will be invaluable in guiding SAA through its restructuring and revitalisation," says the DPE.

The other interim directors are finance professional Fathima Gany, former Airports Company of SA (ACSA) chief operating officer Fundi Sithebe, finance and business strategist Mahlubi Mazwi, corporate and compliance lawyer advocate Johannes Weapond, financial and corporate restructure expert Clarissa Appana, and economist and strategist Dumisani Sangweni.

The interim board will serve until the airline's chosen strategic equity partner, the Takatso Consortium, becomes involved.

Takatso has made it clear that it will not take up the agreed 51% stake in SAA until all historic debt of the airline has been settled.

Despite SAA getting R1 billion in Budget 2023 to settle historic debt, the DPE estimates about another R2.5 billion is needed for that purpose.-Fin24

Foschini cut revenue due to power outages

The inability of South Africa’s main power producer Eskom to meet demand is not only hurting the continent’s most-industrialised economy but affecting manufacturers on an island more than 3 200km away.

Chronic power shortages have reduced demand for Mauritian manufactured goods by South African retailers, the main buyer of products from Mauritius, Arif Currimjee, the outgoing chairman of the Mauritius Export Association, said in an emailed response to questions. The outages pose a “downside risk” to growth in the industry after two straight years of recovery, he said.

The power cuts, which intensified in 2022, have led to a slump in demand, increased costs and reduced trading hours for South Africa’s retailers. Their sales have declined for four of five months, compared with a year earlier.

Sales to South Africa of manufactured goods from Mauritius fell almost 29% to 2.07 billion rupees (R842 million) in the final quarter of last year, compared with the prior three months.

The Foschini Group in March estimated the outages cut its retail revenue for the 2023 financial year by about R1 billion rand and robbed it of 345 000 trading hours in the 11 months through Feb. 28.-Fin24

Glencore, Teck Resouces seek exit from coal

Swiss commodities giant Glencore has come under heavy fire over its coal strategy but is trying to exit this business as part of its takeover bid for Canada's Teck Resources.

But Teck Resources isn't biting, twice this month rebuffing Glencore's proposals to focus instead on its own plans already in the works to spin off its coal division into an independent company.

In February, the Canadian group, which employs 11 000 people, proposed to spin off its activities in metallurgical or coking coal, used to produce steel, into a new company called Elk Valley Resources (EVR) that would be listed separately on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Teck Resources would hold onto zinc and copper mines and become Teck Metals.

Metals have significant growth potential since they are in high demand for the transition to clean energy, the company explained, even though coal accounted for 60 percent of its Can$17.3 billion (R236 billion) in revenues in 2022, due to a surge in the price of coal following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Its shareholders would get one EVR share for 10 Teck Resources shares as well as a cash payment of 0.39 Canadian dollars per share, for a total of Can$200 million.-Fin24