COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Vodacom customers could get refunds

Last week the National Consumer Tribunal slapped Vodacom with a R1 million fine for charging consumers hefty contract cancellation fees. And the affected customers may be eligible for refunds.

This is for Vodacom’s conduct which the tribunal described as: Unconscionable by imposing terms and conditions that negated the consumers’ right to cancel their fixed-term contracts.

This related to the SIM-only contracts signed between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years when customers who tried to cancel their contracts were charged a hefty 75% penalty fee.

During this period, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) received and investigated numerous complaints from customers who claimed that Vodacom had denied them the right to cancel their fixed-term contracts.

Vodacom demanded the hefty penalty before cancelling the contract.

According to the tribunal, customers “alleged that they were coerced to sign the acceptance quotation letter [that was valid for 12 days] and return the letter to Vodacom with proof of payment.”-Fin24

Sasfin flags sharp earnings fall

Financial services group Sasfin Holdings has advised shareholders to expect a significant drop in earnings when it releases its delayed annual results next week.

The group, which has banking and asset management operations, said in a brief statement headline earnings per share (Heps) are expected to be between 313c and 383c for the year to end June, a fall of about 15.7% to 31%.

Earnings per share will fall about 27% to 41%, from about 510c, with it saying prior results will be affected by "certain restatements," with further details to be provided when it releases its results on 31 October.

Sasfin shares, which are down almost 2% this year but up about 8% for the past 12 months, have been trading under threat of suspension from the JSE due to delays in the publication of the group’s audited financial results. The JSE requires that companies listed on the bourse publish their results within three months of their financial year-end, which in Sasfin’s case would’ve been 30 September.

However, the group announced on 29 September that the publication of its annual financial results for the year to end June 2023 had been held up by delays in finalising its external audit, though it said it expected this to be completed on or before 13 October.-Fin24

Karpowership secures environmental approval

Karpowership SA has been granted environmental approval to go ahead with its proposed project at Richards Bay port, the company said in a statement.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment confirmed that the environmental authorisation had been issued on Wednesday, 25 October.

The 450 MW floating gas power plant is one of three from Karpowership that won bids in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme of 2021. The other two are a 450 MW in Coega, Eastern Cape and a 320 MW plant in Saldanha Bay.

The projects have been criticised for being costly – with estimates of it being north of R200 billion over a 20-year period. It was also subject to litigation, which was ultimately dismissed by a court.

The environmental authorisation of these projects was also initially denied following an appeals process, which picked up that there were issues with the public consultations.

But Karpowership had since been granted another opportunity by the appeals authority, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), to submit new environmental impact assessments.-Fin24