COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Aspen in talks with African leadersAspen is in talks with African leaders about how to raise demand for Covid-19 vaccines after the continent’s biggest drugmaker warned a lack of orders may force it to stop making the shots.

Discussions are “underway and I assure you it’s been elevated to the highest level on the continent,” John Nkengasong, director of Africa CDC, said at a briefing on Thursday. “I’m sure more details will be provided in coming days, once we have more details from Africa’s political leadership.”

Nkengasong last week appealed to African countries to place orders with local manufacturers including Durban, South Africa-based Aspen, which makes doses on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and in March said it agreed to make the shots under its own brand.

Since then, Aspen has been contacted by the vaccine alliance Gavi and Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative supplying low-to-middle-income countries, Nkengasong said.

“To regionalise vaccine manufacturing in Africa is an important tool to guarantee our collective security globally,” he said.

While reported Covid cases in Africa dropped slightly in the last week, Nkengasong urged countries to test more. The coronavirus test positivity rate is high, with about 11% of those tested for the virus found to be infected, he said. -Fin24

SAB owner set to lose R15.5 billionSouth African Breweries (SAB) owner AB InBev is selling its stake in its joint venture with Turkish beer maker Anadolu Efes in Russia, as that country’s invasion of Ukraine continues.

In an announcement on Friday, AB InBev said it is in talks to sell the non-controlling stake to Anadolu Efes.

“As a result, AB InBev is de-recognising the investments in AB InBev Efes and will report a US$1.1 billion (about R15.5 billion) non-cash impairment charge in non-underlying share of results of associates as part of its first quarter results announcement,” said the group.

The beer maker also said its request for its licence to produce and sell its Bud beer brand in Russia, will be part of the possible deal.

AB InBev entered into the joint venture with Anadolu Efes in 2017, in which it acquired a 24% stake. The joint venture was meant to strengthen AB InBev’s position in the Russian and Ukraine markets. -Fin24

Australian palladium company heads to JSESouthern Palladium has launched an initial public offer in the hope to raise as much as A$19 million (R215 million) as it moves to begin trading on the JSE next month.

The company, which is domiciled in Australia, said on Friday in an abridged prospectus and pre-listing statement that it is in the process of acquiring a 70% interest in the Bengwenyama Platinum Group Metals (PGM) project located on the Eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo.

Southern Pallaidum intends for the JSE to be a secondary listing while it will apply for a primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

The company intends to partake in advanced stage platinum group minerals exploration and development through its proposed acquisition of a 70% interest in Miracle Upon Miracle Investments Proprietary Limited (MUM), a private South African company which holds prospecting right over the relevant properties located south of Anglo-American Platinum Modikwa mine.

The remaining 30% of MUM is held by an investment company owned by the Bengwenyama-ya-Maswazi community. Southern Palladium’s acquisition in MUM will be complete before listing on the JSE, the company said. -Fin24

Comair withdraws retrenchment processComair has decided to halt a retrenchment process kicked off in March, but says it still needs to find ways to reduce staff and costs in order to remain sustainable.

Comair, which is currently in business rescue, operates its own low-cost airline kulula.com as well as British Airways domestically under a licence agreement.

After a consultation at the CCMA last week, the Commissioner advised that he did not believe a section 189A retrenchment process was the most appropriate to follow to achieve the changes that Comair wished to implement. Accordingly, Comair decided to withdraw these proceedings.

“Unfortunately, the harsh realities of the industry have not changed and the company will still need to achieve the necessary staff and other cost reductions in order for the business to remain sustainable,” Comair told Fin24 on Friday. It will be looking at other ways to reduce staff cost rather than reducing headcount.

According to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), workers at Comair have already made huge sacrifices in order to save the company and turn it around. -Fin24

Softbank-backed Ola Electric Softbank-backed Ola Electric said on Sunday it will recall 1,441 of its electric scooters, weeks after one of its vehicles caught fire, prompting a government probe into the incident.

Scooters involving Indian start-ups Okinawa and PureEV have also been involved in fires, in what some say could be an early setback for a nascent sector that is key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carbon reduction and climate goals.

India launched an investigation into the fires last month, and formed a committee of experts to make recommendations on remedial steps. Okinawa recalled 3,215 vehicles this month.

“We will be conducting a detailed diagnostics and health check of the scooters in that specific batch and therefore are issuing a voluntary recall of 1 441 vehicles,” Ola Electric said in a statement on Sunday. -Reuters