COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

NBA nears broadcast deals worth US$76 billion with NBC, ESPN and Amazon, WSJ reportsThe National Basketball Association is close to finalizing separate broadcast deals with NBC, ESPN and Amazon that would bring in about US$76 billion in media revenue over 11 years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.Comcast&#039;s NBC is nearing a deal with the league to pay an average of US$2.5 billion a year, the report said.Amazon’s package would amount to US$1.8 billion a year and will include regular-season and playoff games, among other tournaments, according to the report.With payments averaging about US$2.6 billion annually, Disney will retain an NBA package and continue to air the NBA Finals. It will pay more than the US$1.5 billion it paid for the current deal but will get fewer games under the new deal, WSJ reported.-REUTERS-DStv nails pirateThe MultiChoice Group says it scored a major victory in its fight against Internet streaming privacy in South Africa after arresting a key suspect involved in Waka TV. MultiChoice, in collaboration with Irdeto and the Western Cape’s Cybercrime Unit, executed a raid on 31 May 2024 that led to the suspect’s arrest. The suspect is allegedly involved in Waka TV, one of the most extensive pirate operations on the content.“This operation represents a major milestone in our relentless commitment to protecting MultiChoice Group’s content and the integrity of our broadcasting services,” said MultiChoice. The suspect appeared in court on 3 June 2024, charged with fraud and contravening the Cybercrimes Act. “Additional charges are being considered in consultation with the Senior Public Prosecutor,” MultiChoice added.Part of the process involves analysing the equipment seized during the raid, which is expected to provide additional insights into the pirate network. MultiChoice said more arrests are imminent. “MultiChoice is actively working with the police as investigations continue into the thousands of individuals connected to the Waka TV pirate network,” said MultiChoice. “Resellers supporting the mentioned pirate operation are also under investigation. This collaborative effort aims to dismantle the entire network and bring all perpetrators to justice.” The suspect arrested during the raid is alleged to have managed several pirate customers and resellers.The Waka TV operation illegally distributed live TV channels, including several movies, series, and channels from DStv. “The disruption caused by this raid is a significant blow to the illegal streaming industry in Africa,” said MultiChoice. The DStv owner thanked the Western Cape Cybercrime Unit for its support and professionalism in planning and executing the operation.-MYBROADBAND-Vukile declares ‘year of outperformance’Vukile Property Fund (VKE), which considered a takeover of UK retail landlord Capital & Regional just last month, delivered a bullish financial performance on Wednesday for the year ended March 2024.In what the group described as “a year of outperformance”, the retail-focused real estate investment trust (Reit) with assets in SA and Spain declared a final dividend of 72.1 cents per share (cps), taking its total dividends for the year to 124.2cps – a 10.5% increase on the prior year. It said this outperformance was “driven by a clear strategic direction and a laser focus on execution”.Most key financial and operating metrics were up, including Net Operating Income (NOI) growth, rent reversions, property portfolio valuations, and dividends. Vacancies and the group’s overall debt levels were also down, with its loan-to-value (LTV) ratio reduced to 40.7%. Vukile, which is largely invested in the burgeoning rural and township retail property market in SA and owns malls like Gugulethu Square, Mdantsane City and Thavhani Mall, said that its growth in dividend and funds from operations (FFO) for the year were “ahead of [the group’s] upgraded guidance for the year”.Laurence Rapp, Vukile’s group CEO, said during a results media briefing on Wednesday that he is upbeat about the Reit’s future growth following its “solid performance” reflected in the latest annual results. He added that both the group’s South African, and Spanish operations – Castellana Properties – performed strongly. Rapp said Vukile’s rent reversion came in at its strongest level in 6 years, which was one of the best performance metrics for the group. This also contributed to the increase in its property valuations by around 5%.“It is early days, but we are looking to expand there, via Castellana,” he said. He added the group is also looking to secure further acquisition opportunities in Spain, with a deal expected to be finalised by September.-MONEYWEB- Hewlett Packard Enterprise sees third-quarter revenue above estimates on robust AI demandHewlett Packard Enterprise forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, helped by upbeat demand for its artificial intelligence servers, sending its shares up 11% in extended trading.The results reflect strong demand for the company&#039;s AI-optimized servers, powered by Nvidia tab hardware, as more firms seek high performance compute to run artificial intelligence applications."AI systems revenue more than doubled from the prior quarter, driven by our strong order book and better conversion from our supply chain," said CEO Antonio Neri.The company is also witnessing increased demand for their hybrid cloud and data storage segments, helped by the AI integration.Sector peer Dell saw shipments for its AI servers more than double last month but at the cost of weaker margins."Long-term trends across hybrid cloud and networking also position us well for the future," said CFO Marie Myers, fanning optimism for a recovery in the networking end market, which has been grappling with weaker demand.HPE forecast third-quarter revenue of US$7.4 billion to US$7.8 billion, compared with estimates of US$7.46 billion, according to LSEG data.For the second quarter, the company reported revenue of US$7.20 billion, beating estimates of US$6.82 billion.-REUTERS-

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