COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Sappi&#039;s profits show improvement Paper and packaging group Sappi reported on Thursday that group core profit, excluding special items, jumped 42% to $151 million (R2.8 billion) in its third quarter to end-June, when global consumer sentiment showed signs of improvement as inflation continued to subside, which provided a boost for packaging and textile markets. However, graphic papers markets generally remained subdued with the recovery post the destocking cycle of 2023 slowing during the quarter, it said. Excluding a $30-million impact of the scheduled maintenance shuts at Saiccor and Somerset mills, profit remained steady quarter-on-quarter, it said. The performance was driven by sustained strong market conditions in the pulp segment, offset somewhat by a muted recovery in paper markets. Included in the core profit number was a positive plantation fair value price adjustment of $3 million. Shares in Sappi were little changed on Thursday afternoon but have gained more than 13% on a one-year basis.-FIN24South Ocean profits fall South Ocean Holdings, an investment holding company whose subsidiaries manufacture low-voltage electrical wire, cables and accessories and hold property, reported that its profit fell 10% to R43.7 million in its six months to end-June. It reported a pickup in finance costs, but didn&#039;t go into much detail about its operations. "The macro-economic environment in which the group operates is not expected to improve soon, with fundamental political and fiscal uncertainties remaining key drivers of economic reality," it said. "The group is therefore focusing on customer service, on reducing costs and using technology to drive growth, productivity and greater efficiencies in a more sustainable manner, which will improve the profitability of the operating entities." The group&#039;s policy is to declare a final dividend, and no interim dividend was declared. Shares in South Ocean, valued about R540 million on the JSE, were up 3.5% on Thursday afternoon and have more than doubled in the past year.-FIN24-Exxaro expects fall in profits Exxaro Resources, whose largest customer is Eskom, warned on Thursday that headline earnings per share are expected to fall by between 31% and 45% in its six months to end-June. The group, which had already flagged lower volumes, said that this was attributable to lower sales prices and sales volumes amid ongoing logistical challenges and reduced offtake from Eskom, partially offset by a slightly weaker exchange rate at its coal business. But the group said its wind business has received a boost from better wind conditions. Shares in the miner, valued at about R66 billion on the JSE, were little changed after the announcement, and have still risen by almost a quarter in the past year.-FIN24-Naspers&#039; Basil Sgourdos to retire The Naspers and Prosus boards announced on Thursday that Basil Sgourdos will retire as group chief financial officer of both companies on 30 November 2024, and they will start a search for a successor. Sgourdos, 54, has been group chief financial director of Naspers since 2014 and of Prosus since its listing in 2019. A chartered accountant, he joined Naspers in 1994 as finance manager of the SA division of MultiChoice, after working for PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1989. The long career has seen, among other things, Naspers list its consumer internet subsidiary Prosus in 2019, while it also unwound a complex cross-shareholding structure in 2023. His retirement also comes as the company marks one of its own important milestones, consolidated profit in its ecommerce subsidiaries, reached in its year to end-March. It also follows recent leadership changes at the group, and in May, Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Brazil&#039;s iFood, was named Naspers CEO following the sudden departure of Bob van Dijk in September 2023. Shares of Naspers and Prosus were mixed on Thursday afternoon, having gained and lost less than 1% respectively.-FIN24-Astral CEO Chriss Schutte to retire SA&#039;s largest poultry producer Astral Foods said on Thursday that its CEO Chris Schutte will retire in January next year after 16 years at the helm. The Goldi and County Fair owner said Schutte had requested to retire at its next AGM on 30 January. Schutte will reach its mandatory retirement age of 65 later in 2025. The search for a successor has started and Schutte had agreed to consult to Astral in a strategic role from 1 February for a period of a year. Shares of Astral were down about 1.5% on Thursday afternoon, having just eked out a gain on a one-year basis.-FIN24- Tongatt Hulettt shareholders reject debt swap plan Shareholders of distressed sugar producer Tongaat Hulett (THL) on Thursday rejected a plan to swap the group&#039;s debt for new equity. Following this rejection, the business rescue plan for SA&#039;s biggest sugar producer outlines the alternative of an asset sale process instead, under which it will delist from the JSE, and shareholders will receive nothing. During a meeting on Thursday, just 48% of shareholders voted in favour of resolutions that would have seen shareholders receive 2.7% of the sugar producer, which entered business rescue in late 2022. Creditors had approved a business plan in January that contemplated it retaining its listing on the local bourse, which was delayed by a contentious process that included a number of court battles, which continue. In order to be adopted, the plan required a nod from at least 75% of voting shareholders. The debt-for-equity swap would see Vision acquiring about R8.5 billion of debt, strengthening Tongaat&#039;s balance sheet by R4.9 billion through the debt-for-equity swap, while the remaining R3.6 billion — retained by Vision — would be restructured on terms that were expected to more favourable to the company. The alternative, a direct asset sale, is expected to take longer, with a lot more approvals, and therefore is riskier. But Tongaat&#039;s business rescue practitioners, Metis Strategic Advisors, have said they are committed to the plan.-FIN24-

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