COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Investec gets profit boost from higher rates

Rising interest rates boosted Investec’s net interest income in the six months to end-September, while it also grew its client base and lending in South Africa and the UK, the group added.

Investec expects basic earnings per share of between 67.2p and 69.2p for the six months to end-September - between 33% and 37% ahead of the corresponding period in the prior year. Investec, which is dual-listed in Johannesburg and London, reports its financial results in pounds.

Headline earnings per share, a profit measure that excludes the impact of once-off items, will be 6% to 12% higher.

Investec Group CEO Fani Titi said the group's performance was underpinned by the continued success in acquiring clients and lending growth.

Like other banks, Investec saw its bad debts increase following aggressive increase rate hikes.

It expects its credit loss ratio to move closer to the upper end of the through-the-cycle (TTC) range of 25 to 35 basis points, with its South Africa business performing slightly better on this front than its UK operations.

However, it also saw a positive earnings impact of rising interest rates which supported higher net interest income from a growing lending book.-Fin24

Quantum Foods lost two million chickens

South African poultry farmers have warned of possible chicken and egg shortages as they battle what the industry says is the worst bird flu outbreak ever to hit the country.

Producer Quantum Foods said that this year it had lost almost two million chickens - worth a total of more than R100 million - because of the disease.

"The bird flu outbreak is the worst that South Africa has witnessed," fellow producer Astral said in a trading update.

"It has already caused short supplies of table eggs into the market, and it is expected that the supply of poultry meat into the value chain could be affected negatively in the coming months."

The outbreak has cost it R220 million so far, the company said.

One of the continent's major poultry producers, South Africa reported the first bird flu cases in commercial farms in April, according to an industry group.

Earlier this month, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) said the country was contending with two different strains of the virus, the infamous H5N1 and a new strain identified as H7N6.

The latter was spreading through the north-eastern provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng "at an alarming rate", according to Astral.-Fin24

BioNTech revising plans to build plant in SA

BioNTech is revising plans to build a manufacturing network of vaccine plants in three countries in Africa, just over a year after breaking ground on the first facility in Rwanda.

BioNtech is Pfizer's partner in developing Covid vaccines. In a potential blow for Africa’s hopes of greater vaccine self-reliance, the German biotech company is currently not moving forward with a plan for a manufacturing facility in South Africa, according to people familiar with the project, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. In Senegal, BioNTech is now holding discussions about developing a smaller-scale manufacturing site or possibly an R&D center.

The moves come after BioNTech shipped six containers to Kigali, Rwanda, in March. The company designed its ‘BioNTainer’ facilities as part of an ambitious program to help ensure people on the continent have equitable access to the mRNA technology that soared to prominence during the race to develop a vaccine against Covid-19.

BioNTech said as recently as December that in addition to Rwanda, where construction is continuing, it expected to ship BioNTainers to Senegal and potentially South Africa as part of a push toward a “decentralised and robust end-to-end manufacturing network in Africa.”

In response to questions from Bloomberg, BioNTech said its “goal of helping to democratize access to innovative medicines remains unchanged.”-Fin24