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Snap expects to lose more usersSnap Inc lost more users than Wall Street expected in the third quarter as it continued to grapple with an unpopular redesign of its Snapchat photo-messaging app and fierce competition from Facebook Inc’s Instagram.Daily active users are expected to fall again next quarter, Snap chief financial officer Tim Stone told analysts on a conference call, which would mark the third sequential quarter of user declines.Snap shares, which have lost more than 52% since the beginning of the year, tumbled 10 percent in after-hours trade as the company failed to convince Wall Street 2019 would be better.During the call, Stone dashed hopes that Snap had set a firm target to reach full-year profitability in 2019. That ambition was outlined in a leaked internal memo from chief executive Evan Spiegel earlier this month.-Nampa/ReutersSA doubts SAA will find equity partnerSouth African finance minister Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that he doubted that the government would find an investor to take an equity stake in struggling state-run South African Airways (SAA) in its current financial state.“I doubt you are going to find an equity partner who will come into SAA in this current state. As an equity partner you’d have to immediately assume debt of some 21 billion rand (US$1.5 billion),” Mboweni told lawmakers, a day after giving a bleak medium-term budget speech which rattled South African markets.-Nampa/ReutersBidvest, Petredec unveil construction of LPG siteSouth Africa’s Bidvest Tank Terminals (BTT), a unit of Bidvest Group, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) firm Petredec on Thursday launched the construction of a 1 billion rand (US$70 million) LPG import and storage facility in Richards Bay, north of Durban.The 22 600 tonne facility will significantly increase the supply of LPG to Africa’s most industrialised economy and allow for exports of the fuel to neighbouring countries, the companies said in a joint statement.Although LPG is preferable to paraffin or wood as fuel for heating and cooking, the South African per capita usage of LPG is lower than in many equivalent economies as a result of constrained domestic supply and a lack of sufficient import and storage capacity.The lack of sufficient storage facilities in the country has meant that Petredec’s ships, which trade, transport, store and distribute LPG to industrial, commercial and domestic users, have had to park outside the harbour for months, while incurring costs, the firm’s Director Lee Furby told Reuters.“There will be huge efficiencies when this terminal opens, not only for us but also for the end users,” Furby said.-Nampa/ReutersAB InBev halves dividendAnheuser-Busch InBev cut its proposed dividend by half on Thursday as beer sales dropped in the world’s largest brewer’s largest markets, the United States and Brazil, and overall earnings fell short of forecasts, knocking its shares.AB InBev’s shares fell by 7.6% to 66.89 euros and were among the weakest in the FTSEurofirst index after the brewer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona said it will pay a total dividend of 1.80 euros per share for 2018.This would save AB InBev, which paid around US$100 billion for SABMiller in 2016, about US$4 billion which the Belgium-based brewer said would be used to cut its net debt of US$108.8 billion.“In the last six months, we’ve seen a lot of (currency) volatility. This scenario triggers some sort of uncertainty and at a certain point... we thought it was the right time to adjust the dividend,” chief financial officer Felipe Dutra said.The company said dividends would increase over time, but growth would be modest in the short term given the importance of deleveraging. Dutra said this meant the next one to two years.-Nampa/ReutersSteinhoff says subsidiary Stripes US HoldingSouth African retailer Steinhoff said on Thursday that the High Court of Justice in England and Wales had granted permission to its subsidiary, Stripes US Holding, to convene a meeting with creditors about a proposed restructuring.The meeting will consider whether to approve a scheme for creditors to exchange their rights under a revolving credit facility to Stripes US Holding for similar ones involving Steinhoff Europe AG as the borrower.Steinhoff is fighting for survival after revealing multi-billion euro holes in its balance sheet that wiped more than 90% off its market value and forced it to sell assets to fund working capital.-Nampa/Reuters

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-08

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-08

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