COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Phillepus Uusiku
Glencore names Madhavpeddi as chairman

Swiss commodities trader Glencore said Kalidas Madhavpeddi will take over as its new chairman at the end of the month, when Tony Hayward retires after eight years in the role.

US-based Madhavpeddi joined the board of the London-listed miner in February 2020 and is better known as the chief executive of China Molybdenum International (CMOC), a role he covered for almost ten years until 2018.

During his time at the Chinese producer, Madhavpeddi made a series of sizable acquisitions, including US Freeport-McMoRan Inc.'s majority stake in the Tenke copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo for US$2.65 billion and Anglo American's niobium and phosphates business in Brazil.

"I am delighted to have been appointed Chairman at such an exciting time for the business," Madhavpeddi said in a statement.

"As the world transitions to cleaner forms of energy and mobility, our portfolio of commodities will allow Glencore to play a key role in helping us achieve the goals of Paris and play a key role in the ongoing energy and mobility transition."-Nampa/Reuters

Hyundai Motor to invest millions

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co has invested about US$100 million to buy a stake in a lithium metal battery startup, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, citing industry sources.

"As we have been investing in various companies related to electrification, our investment in SolidEnergy is part of that," an official at Hyundai Motor told Yonhap.

Founded in 2012, SolidEnergy Systems (SES), which was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develops anode-free lithium metal batteries.

In April, Hyundai said during its earnings call that the company had been developing solid-state batteries and planned to mass produce electric vehicles (EV) using solid-state batteries in 2030.

Hyundai currently sources its batteries for its EVs from SK Innovation Co Ltd and LG Chem Ltd's wholly-owned LG Energy Solution. In March, General Motors announced a partnership with SES to boost its battery development, allowing for increased electric vehicle driving range in a smaller package. - Nampa/Reuters

Sydney Airport receives buyout bid

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd said a consortium of infrastructure investors had proposed a A$22.26 billion (US$16.7 billion) cash buyout of the operator of Australia's biggest airport.

A consortium comprised of IFM Investors, pension fund QSuper and Global Infrastructure Management offered A$8.25 a share, a 42% premium to Sydney Airport's closing price on Friday, the airport operator said.

Sydney Airport noted that the offer is below its pre-pandemic share price and said it was reviewing the proposal. The airport operator's share price hit a record high of A$8.86 in January last year, before the pandemic led to a collapse in travel demand.

The company is Australia's only listed airport operator, with the remainder of the country's major airports owned by consortiums of infrastructure investors.

In May, Sydney Airport's international traffic was down more than 93% from levels in the same month of 2019 due to Australia's largely closed border, while domestic traffic was down 39.2%. -Nampa/Reuters

Facebook services restored after outage

Facebook Inc said it has resolved a technical issue that caused some users trouble accessing Facebook, Messenger, Workplace and Instagram on Saturday.

"We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience," a spokesperson told Reuters.

Facebook, Instagram and Messenger were down for thousands of users on Saturday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from a series of sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform. The outages might be affecting a larger number of users. - Nampa/Reuters

Syngenta to fund growth and acquisitions

Syngenta Group will use the proceeds from its US$10 billion initial public offering (IPO) to fund internal growth and an acquisition spree to snare more of the US$100 billion market for seeds and sprays, the agrichemical giant said on Friday.

The company's prospectus to list on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market was posted online by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Friday, confirming details reported this week by Reuters after the application was filed on Wednesday.

"Syngenta Group will expand and renovate its production facility and implement strategic acquisition to meet growing market needs," the company said in the document.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange filing showed Syngenta’s application to list on the STAR Market had been accepted and the company plans to issue up to 2.79 billion shares.

The flotation, set to be the world's biggest this year, will value the maker of pesticides and seeds based in Basel, Switzerland, at about US$60 billion including debt, or US$50 billion without, sources have told Reuters. -Nampa/Reuters

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Namibian Sun 2024-05-19

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LaLiga: Deportivo Alaves 1 vs 0 Getafe | Real Sociedad 1 vs 0 Valencia | Almería 0 vs 2 Barcelona | Las Palmas 2 vs 2 Real Betis SerieA: Sassuolo 0 vs 2 Cagliari | Torino 3 vs 1 AC Milan | Lecce 0 vs 2 Atalanta | Fiorentina 2 vs 2 Napoli European Championships Qualifying: Southampton 3 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Leeds United 4 vs 0 Norwich City English Championship: Southampton 3 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Leeds United 4 vs 0 Norwich City Katima Mulilo: 11° | 31° Rundu: 9° | 30° Eenhana: 11° | 31° Oshakati: 12° | 31° Ruacana: 12° | 31° Tsumeb: 13° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 12° | 27° Omaruru: 14° | 29° Windhoek: 12° | 26° Gobabis: 13° | 27° Henties Bay: 20° | 36° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: E, Low tide: 07:06, High tide: 13:28, Low Tide: 19:06, High tide: 01:31 Swakopmund: 20° | 26° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 07:04, High tide: 13:26, Low Tide: 19:04, High tide: 01:29 Walvis Bay: 22° | 33° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: SE, Low tide: 07:04, High tide: 13:25, Low Tide: 19:04, High tide: 01:28 Rehoboth: 12° | 27° Mariental: 15° | 29° Keetmanshoop: 18° | 30° Aranos: 15° | 29° Lüderitz: 16° | 35° Ariamsvlei: 18° | 32° Oranjemund: 13° | 33° Luanda: 24° | 26° Gaborone: 14° | 27° Lubumbashi: 11° | 26° Mbabane: 12° | 25° Maseru: 8° | 24° Antananarivo: 15° | 22° Lilongwe: 13° | 26° Maputo: 20° | 27° Windhoek: 12° | 26° Cape Town: 14° | 21° Durban: 17° | 28° Johannesburg: 15° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 32° Lusaka: 13° | 25° Harare: 12° | 26° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.01 | EUR to NAD 19.73 | CNY to NAD 2.51 | USD to NAD 18.15 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.3 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.7 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.55 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.35 | USD to AOA 847.42 | USD to BWP 13.49 | USD to EGP 46.86 | USD to KES 130.48 | USD to NGN 1467 | USD to ZAR 18.15 | USD to ZMW 25.45 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 79530.63 Up +0.03% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1754.58 Up +0.81% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13426.13 Up +0.11% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26142.84 Up +3.27% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9151.06 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 414.72/OZ UP +1.55% | Copper US$ 5.04/lb UP +4.12% | Zinc US$ 3 059.30/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 84.28/BBP UP +0.60% | Platinum US$ 1 084.88/OZ UP +2.19% Sport results: LaLiga: Deportivo Alaves 1 vs 0 Getafe | Real Sociedad 1 vs 0 Valencia | Almería 0 vs 2 Barcelona | Las Palmas 2 vs 2 Real Betis SerieA: Sassuolo 0 vs 2 Cagliari | Torino 3 vs 1 AC Milan | Lecce 0 vs 2 Atalanta | Fiorentina 2 vs 2 Napoli European Championships Qualifying: Southampton 3 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Leeds United 4 vs 0 Norwich City English Championship: Southampton 3 vs 1 West Bromwich Albion | Leeds United 4 vs 0 Norwich City Weather: Katima Mulilo: 11° | 31° Rundu: 9° | 30° Eenhana: 11° | 31° Oshakati: 12° | 31° Ruacana: 12° | 31° Tsumeb: 13° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 12° | 27° Omaruru: 14° | 29° Windhoek: 12° | 26° Gobabis: 13° | 27° Henties Bay: 20° | 36° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: E, Low tide: 07:06, High tide: 13:28, Low Tide: 19:06, High tide: 01:31 Swakopmund: 20° | 26° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 07:04, High tide: 13:26, Low Tide: 19:04, High tide: 01:29 Walvis Bay: 22° | 33° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: SE, Low tide: 07:04, High tide: 13:25, Low Tide: 19:04, High tide: 01:28 Rehoboth: 12° | 27° Mariental: 15° | 29° Keetmanshoop: 18° | 30° Aranos: 15° | 29° Lüderitz: 16° | 35° Ariamsvlei: 18° | 32° Oranjemund: 13° | 33° Luanda: 24° | 26° Gaborone: 14° | 27° Lubumbashi: 11° | 26° Mbabane: 12° | 25° Maseru: 8° | 24° Antananarivo: 15° | 22° Lilongwe: 13° | 26° Maputo: 20° | 27° Windhoek: 12° | 26° Cape Town: 14° | 21° Durban: 17° | 28° Johannesburg: 15° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 32° Lusaka: 13° | 25° Harare: 12° | 26° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.01 | EUR to NAD 19.73 | CNY to NAD 2.51 | USD to NAD 18.15 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.3 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.7 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.55 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.35 | USD to AOA 847.42 | USD to BWP 13.49 | USD to EGP 46.86 | USD to KES 130.48 | USD to NGN 1467 | USD to ZAR 18.15 | USD to ZMW 25.45 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 79530.63 Up +0.03% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1754.58 Up +0.81% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13426.13 Up +0.11% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26142.84 Up +3.27% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9151.06 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 414.72/OZ UP +1.55% | Copper US$ 5.04/lb UP +4.12% | Zinc US$ 3 059.30/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 84.28/BBP UP +0.60% | Platinum US$ 1 084.88/OZ UP +2.19%