Company news in brief

Capitec delivers blockbuster resultsCapitec has defied skeptics yet again by growing half-year earnings by more than a third, despite a bleak economic backdrop characterised by rising electricity prices and elevated interest rates.SA's largest retail bank, which now boasts more than 23 million clients, reported a 36% jump in headline earnings to R6.4 billion in the six months to end-August yesterday.But it added strong growth in headline earnings for the period was "exaggerated" as it came off a low base, given comparatively high levels of credit impairments in the prior year.As a result, Capitec tightened its lending criteria, which saw credit impairments in the current half-year fall 15% to just over R4 billion. While gross loans and advances grew 8% to R108.85 billion. Business loans led the way, rising 24%, while personal loan growth was muted at 2% for the period, thanks to the stricter lending.Shares in the group, valued at about R334 billion on the JSE, were up about 1.4% yesterday morning and have gained more than 80% in the past year.The group increased its dividend by 36% to R20.85 per share.Non-interest income, which spans insurance, VAS, as well as transaction fees and commission income, climbed 22% to R11.27 billion to end August.That outpaced the 17% rise in interest income to R14.7 billion, which stems mainly from lending but also from financial investments. - Fin24Volkswagen operating 'as normal' in SAAs the German car giant Volkswagen faces turmoil, plant closures and layoffs in its home country, its SA operations are operating "as normal", and a new R4-billion investment in its local plant looks set to continue.In September, Volkswagen – which also produces Porsche, Audi, Skoda and Seat vehicles – announced that it was considering mass layoffs among its German labour force of 300 000 and may have to close some of its plants in that country, for the first time in its history.According to Reuters, the company also announced it would scrap a range of labour agreements at six of its German plants, which guaranteed jobs for workers until 2029. These plans were met with outrage and "bitter resistance" by local unions, who have threatened to strike in protest.But Volkswagen argued that high labour and energy costs in Germany hurt its competitiveness at a time where it is facing tough competition from Chinese brands, particularly in the electric vehicle market in Chinese. Volkswagen lost almost a third of its share value in five years, and is one of the worst-performing European carmakers.On Friday, Volkswagen cut its forecasted revenue and vehicle production for the year.The German car company has previously announced that it would close its Chinese combustion car plant in Nanjing this month, gradually moving the production of its Passat family car to another nearby factory over issues of overcapacity.A Volkswagen SA spokesperson did not want to speculate about whether the situation in Germany would impact SA, but said that: "I can confirm that our plant in Kariega [previously known as Uitenhage] is operating as normal, building the Polo Vivo for the domestic market and Polo for the local and export markets. In April this year, our company announced a R4 billion investment for a third model which will be built alongside Polo & Polo Vivo from 2027." - Fin24Spar reports bigger turnoverRetailer Spar reported that turnover from continuing operations increased by 4.1% for the 47 weeks to 23 August, which was adversely affected by fluctuations in exchange rates and inflation since it last reported its turnover for the six months ending March. Combined core grocery and liquor sales growth of 3.6% in southern Africa contrasted against internally measured price inflation of 5.8%, but liquor sales showed an "exceptional performance" of 10.5%. Pleasingly, total retail growth to the end of August through its grocery and liquor stores has grown by 6.1% (5.7% like-for-like), "showing the strength and resilience of the Spar brand". - Fin24Netcare on track with guidanceNetcare, which operates the largest private hospital network in SA, reported it is on track to meet its guidance for its year to end-September, seeing an expected pick-up in paid-patient days as well as its margins. In a voluntary update, which indicates that its headline earnings per share won't move in a range of more than 20%, the group reported total paid patient days are expected to grow by 0.3%, "notwithstanding the constrained economic environment, exacerbated by high unemployment rates and job losses in the formal sector, engendering sluggish growth in medical aid membership." In May, the group had guided between a fall of 0.5% to a rise of 0.5% in paid patient days. Group revenue is expected to grow by 5.5% to 6.5% from the R23.7 billion booked previously, the group said. - Fin24

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