COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

OUTsurance pays special dividendOUTsurance, the property and casualty insurer with businesses in South Africa and Australia, has declared a special dividend after posting bumper annual earnings from its continuing operations.The Centurion-headquartered insurance group, which took over the listing of its former parent Rand Merchant Investment Holdings (RMI) in 2022, reported a just over 62% increase in normalised earnings from continuing operations to about R2.9 billion in the year to end-June. Operating profit increased by 41.7% to above R4 billion, primarily due to a reduction in the group’s net claims ratio from 56.1% to 53.6% and strong premium growth.That strong financial performance allowed the board to declare a final cash dividend of 78c per ordinary share, which along with the 56.8c interim dividend declared March, took the total dividend for the year to 134.8c a share, double the previous year’s 65.5c. In addition, OUTsurance also declared a special dividend of 8.5c per ordinary share, which will be paid out of income reserves."The 2023 financial year was marked by strong revenue growth on account of the continued delivery of our strategy to scale our wider product set through all three major channels – digital, call centre and face-to-face," CEO Marthinus Visser said in a statement."Profit growth was also robust on account of more favourable weather-related claims in Australia as well as timeous action to combat the effects of a sudden reset in vehicle accident frequency as well as higher claims inflation, load shedding, vehicle theft and reinsurance cost."-Fin24van Dijk out as Naspers and Prosus CEOBob van Dijk is no longer CEO of Naspers and its consumer internet arm Prosus, effective immediately, the companies announced on Monday. "The Naspers and Prosus boards and Bob van Dijk have mutually agreed that Bob will, effective 18 September 2023, step down from his position as chief executive as well as his position on the boards of both companies," the companies said. "Bob has agreed to assist with the transition after this date and will remain as a consultant to the group until 30 September 2024."Van Dijk was CEO of Naspers since 2014, and of Prosus since its listing in 2019. Ervin Tu, presently the group's chief investment officer, was appointed interim CEOFormer Naspers CEO Koos Bekker, who is currently the chair of both Naspers and Prosus said the boards thanked Van Dijk for his leadership over the past decade. "During this time substantial businesses were established in classifieds, food delivery and payments, while we also entered several new fields. We appreciate Bob’s contributions and wish him much success with his future career."-Fin24Spar loses information technology chiefSpar's chief information technology executive Mark Huxtable has resigned from the South African food and liquor retailer, not long after a rocky implementation of a R1.8 billion ($95 million) software system.The move to the SAP software resulted in various integration and distribution issues that caused interruptions in stock deliveries to stores and lost sales. The SAP software project cost Spar about R786 million in lost first-half wholesale turnover. Operating profit fell 18% in the six months through March.Huxtable’s departure is for personal reasons and he will leave the Durban-based company at the end of the month, it said Friday in an e-mailed response to questions. The problems with the SAP systems have been worked on and stores are again being serviced, it said. Spar’s South African national information technology executive Brett McDougall will step in to support the team, chairman Mike Bosman said in the e-mail. Huxtable did not respond to requests for comment and SAP said it was unable to comment on behalf of its customers. The grocer has lost a number of executives this year, including its former CEO Brett Botten and ex chairman Graham O’Connor who resigned over governance issues.-Fin24Glencore risks missing investment deadlineGlencore is in negotiations with the South African government about a pledge to invest R6 billion in a Cape Town refinery, as the company is set to miss the deadline following an explosion that shut the plant for several years.The commodities-trading giant agreed when it bought the plant to make the investment in the facility within five years, a period that ends near the end of this month. South Africa has indicated discussions over the matter are ongoing, while Glencore said it remains committed to the investment. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition "can confirm that it is in negotiations with Glencore and the two are on course to reach an agreement," it said by email, without specifying a timeline. "The department is confident that once an agreement is reached and signed, the committed funds will be spent accordingly." South Africa’s refining system has been plagued by underinvestment, with the nation losing about half of its oil-processing capacity in recent years. Plants have closed as cleaner fuel specifications loom, though fires and floods have also been a factor.Glencore and local partner Astron Energy "remain committed to spending R6 billion to upgrade the refinery and thereby supporting an ongoing refining industry in South Africa," the trader said in response to questions.-Fin24Competition watchdog to probe J&JThe Competition Commission has launched an investigation into whether pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) overcharged South Africa for lifesaving tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline.Bedaquiline is used to treat drug-resistant TB and SA has one of the highest burdens of the infectious disease globally. The World Health Organisation has estimated that over 50 000 South Africans died of TB in 2021 alone. Professor Norbert Ndjeka, director of drug-resistant TB at the National Department of Health, said he understood the commission would compare the price SA paid for the drug with what other countries were charged. In a briefing organised by Doctors Without Borders SA on Thursday, Njeka said the SA government was paying J&J R5 400 per patient for a six-month course of the drug. South Africa recently concluded a new deal with Johnson & Johnson to pay R5 500 for a six-month regimen of the drug from 1 October. The new price would be valid for the next two years. Health advocates, however, have questioned why SA is paying about twice as much as other low- and middle-income countries.-Fin24

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