COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

BAT sticks to profit forecast

British American Tobacco (BAT) shares were steady after the company released a half-year trading update.

BAT owns cigarette brands like Dunhill, Peter Stuyvesant, Rothmans and Pall Mall, along with vaping and heated tobacco products including Vuse, glo and Velo.

The group expects mid-single figure diluted earnings per share (in constant currency), with revenue growth of 3% to 5% for the full year. BAT warned that growth might be hit by the transfer of its Russian and Belarusian businesses, which is expected this year. It is still maintaining operating cash flow conversion of more than 90%

The company said its market share in cigarette sales volumes grew by 10 basis points over the past six months – despite a "disappointing" performance in the US.

BAT CEO Tadeu Marroco said there was "strong" revenue growth in its vaping and heated tobacco product business and again confirmed that it should be profitable by 2024.

"Our strategic aim is to progressively transform our portfolio by actively encouraging adult smokers to switch to less risky products compared to smoking; a transformation delivering long-term multi-stakeholder value."-Fin24

Bidcorp affected by loadshedding

Bidcorp, the South African food services company that operates in more than two dozen countries, is finding its home market tough under the strain of endless power cuts.

In a trading update for the 10 months to end-April, Bidcorp reported growth in Australasia, the UK and Europe. But its emerging-markets region presented a different picture. "Trading conditions in South Africa remain difficult" and low economic growth exacerbated by blackouts hampered performance, Johannesburg-based Bidcorp said in a statement on Tuesday.

State-owned power utility Eskom has imposed rolling blackouts, known locally as load shedding, every day this year bar one. That’s caused havoc for businesses, with retailers spending billions of rand to keep their shops open and cold chains intact. Manufacturers have lost production and many companies are opting to install expensive renewable energy systems to reduce their reliance on the national grid.

Problems in Bidcorp’s domestic market extend beyond Eskom. Unemployment is almost 33%, the rand has weakened to record lows and benchmark interest rates have more than doubled since November 2021. Plus, bad debts among consumers are creeping higher and the country was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s so-called gray list in February for failures in combating illicit money flows.-Fin24

Apple takes on the metaverse

Tech giant Apple has unveiled its first major product in more than seven years, a mixed-reality headset that might just deliver a terminal blow to the "metaverse".

Silicon Valley rival Meta was so confident of it could create the metaverse — an idea of a 3D immersive internet — that it changed its name from Facebook in 2021 and began funnelling billions into the project.

But the idea has been hampered by fluffed launches, dodgy graphics, no clear path to profitability and a general feeling that few people know what it is.

Meta's Reality Labs, the division helming its metaverse effort, has lost $4 billion so far and company chief Mark Zuckerberg has been increasingly talking up artificial intelligence rather than the metaverse.

During his presentation on Monday, Apple boss Tim Cook introduced the Vision Pro, a sleek headset resembling ski goggles.

It will allow the user to communicate, work, watch movies, listen to music — and even choose whether to be immersed or to keep an eye on the outside world.-Fin24