Company News in Brief

Beares owner Lewis leaps 11% after flagging profit growth of almost a halfShares in SA's largest furniture chain Lewis Group jumped almost 11% on Monday morning after the owner of brands including Best Home and Electric and Beares said its half-year earnings per share could rise by over a half.Headline earnings are expected to be between 35% and 45% higher in the six months to end September, the group said in a brief update, having reported earnings of R203.9 million previously. On a per share basis, they are expected to rise by between 45% and 55%, and in morning trade the group, now valued at about R4 billion on the JSE, were just under 11% higher. They have now doubled over the past year.Lewis said it saw strong credit sales and robust growth in the debtors' book, while its gross margin has remained stable and within management's target range despite turbulent sea freight markets.Operating costs were contained within management's target range while the growth in insurance service expenses is closely aligned to insurance revenue growth, it said."Collections have been maintained at near record levels and the quality of the group's debtors portfolio continued to improve."The company has recently attributed some of its recent financial success to a social media push, as well as the successful introduction of new ranges.It has also expressed its pleasure at its collection rate among the customers from whom the group most expects to get repeat business. -FIN24Shoprite's shares jump as it reports real revenue growth and aggressive store rolloutShares of SA's biggest retailer Shoprite surged more than 5% at one point on Tuesday after a first-quarter update showed strong sales growth in its core local supermarket division and aggressive store rollouts across its brands.Reporting an operational date for the three months to end-September, the group, whose brands include Shoprite, Checkers and Usave, among others, said that group sales rose 10.4%. Its South African supermarkets division was the top performer with 11.4% sales growth, which was slightly lower than the high base of 13.3% set in the first quarter of the previous year.The group also reported much lower internal price inflation during the period, implying strong volume growth. For example, selling price increases were coming in at 3% in July, but continued to track lower throughout August and September. As a result, they measured 2.6% for the period, which Just One Lap's Simon Brown said was "nice to see", considering the pressure local consumers have been under amid a high inflationary environment.Shoprite, meanwhile, opened a total of 68 stores during the first quarter on a net basis, with a net 53 of them opened in its local supermarkets segment. It had a total of 3 031 stores at the end of June.-FIN24 Implats reports production slip amid pressure from safety stoppages, CanadaShares of Impala Platinum fell more than their major peers on Wednesday after the platinum group metals (PGM) miner reported a fall in sales for its first quarter to end September.The miner kept its full-year guidance unchanged across costs and production, but reported that refined and saleable production of the six metals it produces fell 9% to 807 000 ounces.It has guided refined and saleable production of between 3.45 and 3.65 million ounces for the full 2025 year, from about 3.38 million in 2024. Sales volumes were 4% lower at 792 000 ounces. In morning trade on the JSE shares of the miner, valued at about R111 billion, were down just over 4%. At the same time shares in Anglo American Platinum and Northam Platinum were down about 3% and 4.5% respectively. Tonnes milled at managed operations declined by 6% to 7.09 million during the quarter, reflecting the revised operating parameters at both Impala Canada and Styldrift in the North West and the impact of safety stoppages at Impala Rustenburg and Bafokeng Rasimone, the group said.Impala Rustenburg faced a lengthy stoppage as a result of following a fatal fall-of-ground accident, with the group also reporting a fatality at Impala Rustenburg, though it said it also saw a 3% and 20% year-on-year improvement in the lost-time and all-injury injury frequency rates, respectively.Production at Impala Canada reflected the revised operating strategy, which is aimed at maximising volume and cost performance over the remaining life-of-mine, the group said. The operation continued to deliver to plan and achieve key performance measures, it said, but tonnes milled declined by 15%. Amid addition pressure from a decline in grades, there was a 22% reduction in volumes in concentrate to 58 000 ounces.-FIN24Astral Foods eyes annual profit after bird flu-triggered lossSouth Africa's top poultry producer Astral Foods said on Wednesday it expects to post an annual profit this year, as it recovers from the previous year's rare loss caused by power cuts and the country's worst-ever bird flu outbreak.Astral said in a trading update its headline earnings per share for the year ended Sept. 30 would be between 18.53 rand and 19.85 rand ($1.05 and $1.12), compared with a loss of 13.24 rand per share a year earlier.This was the company's first-ever loss in its 24-year history.Last year, South Africa lost nearly 10 million chickens, about a third of its national flock, during its worst outbreak of high-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a bird flu with a high death rate that spreads rapidly through a flock.The country also experienced lengthy and intense electricity cuts, blamed on frequent breakdowns of its ageing coal-fired plants, which drove up costs.The bird flu was contained towards the end of 2023 and South Africa has seen improved performance from its power plants, resulting in more than 200 days without power cuts since the end of March 2024.Astral said it will publish its annual results on Nov. 18.-REUTERS Google among investors putting $110 million into Nigeria's MoniepointNigeria based fintech Moniepoint has raised $110 million in new funding from investors including Google to scale up digital payments and banking solutions across Africa, the company said on Tuesday.Moniepoint started operations in 2015 providing infrastructure and payment solutions for banks and financial institutions but has grown to also offer personal banking services.The latest funding round was supported by existing investors London-based Development Partners International and private equity firm Lightrock. Google's Africa Investment Fund and Verod Capital came in as new investors.Sources close to the transaction said the new funding valued Moniepoint above $1 billion, giving it "unicorn" status - a term for tech firms with a valuation of a billion dollars or more.The new capital would be used to speed up Moniepoint's growth across Africa and build an integrated platform for businesses."This platform will include services such as digital payments, banking, foreign exchange (FX), credit, and business management tools, making it a one-stop shop for business solutions," Moniepoint said.Nigeria is the fastest growing fintech market in Africa, driven by its more than 200 million people, many who still lack access to financial services like banking.Moniepoint started offering personal banking services in August last year.The fintech says it processes over 800 million transactions, with a monthly value of more than $17 billion.-REUTERS

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