COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

ADvTECH appoints Hannes Boonzaair as CFO



Africa's largest private education group ADvTECH - which owns brands like Crawford, Trinity House, and Varsity College - announced the appointment of Hannes Boonzaaier as designated CFO with effect from 1 February. After an initial handover period, he will succeed Didier Oesch, who will retire at the end of April after serving the group for more than 19 years. Boonzaaier is a CA and had joined the AfroCentric Group in 2003, serving in the position of CFO since 2015. Prior to joining the AfroCentric Group, he was a senior manager in the corporate finance team at KPMG, where he also completed his articles. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Pretoria, completed a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) through UNISA, and was admitted as a CA SAICA) in 2000. CFO SA awarded him the CFO Transformation and Empowerment Award in 2019. He won "Best Integrated Audit Report" for healthcare companies at the annual Board of Healthcare Funders Awards in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and was the overall winner in the JSE SmallCap section Integrated Audit Reports at the Sunday Times Companies Secretaries Award in 2022.-FIN24



Reinet reports increase in net asset value

Luxembourg-based investment vehicle Reinet reported that its net asset value climbed 6.6% to €6.18 billion during the course of the six months to end September, lifted by growth in both its two big assets, British American Tobacco and Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC). The PIC is its biggest asset, accounting for almost 53% of NAV, and is one of the UK's leading pension risk transfer market providers, with clients including FTSE 100 companies, the public sector, and multinationals. The PIC's net asset value did lift a little, but its composition of the portfolio fell from almost 56% at the end of March.-fin24



NEPI Rockcastle operating income climbs 12.3%

JSE-listed landlord NEPI Rockcastle, which has a €7.1 billion (R136 billion) portfolio in central and Eastern Europe, reported that it achieved a 12.3% growth in net operating income to €411 million in the nine months to end September, citing both higher rents and discipline with regards to operating costs. The average rental uplift in was 3.6% above indexation, it said, and referring to inflation, saying this was underpinned by continued strong demand for space in its shopping centres. NEPI reaffirmed its guidance updated in August that distributable earnings per share for the year will be approximately 5.5% higher, with no change to its 90% payout ratio.-FIN24



Momentum business units drive earnings

Insurance and investment group Momentum said on Wednesday that most of its business units continued to deliver encouraging earnings results in its first quarter when it saw signs of an improved environment boosting its businesses a little. Group sales, as measured by the present value of new business premiums (PVNBP), increased by 5% to about R20.6 billion in the three-month period to end September, it said in an operational update This was supported by continued growth in life annuities new business volumes from Momentum Investments while Africa's PVNBP improved 25% thanks to good retail sales growth in Namibia and Botswana and higher corporate sales in Lesotho "Our operating environment continues to face pressure from weak economic growth and an increasingly competitive landscape," Momentum said. "However, we are cautiously optimistic about the early indications of economic recovery in South Africa with inflation easing and the start of the interest rate reduction cycle alleviating the pressure on disposable income.-FIN24





Food producer RFG on Wednesday announced a hike in its full-year dividend of nearly 80% amid strong profit and margin growth and despite volumes pressure. A key driver of the performance was its focus on cost-cutting and driving efficiencies in its plants even as it delivered a more muted revenue performance, citing an under-pressure consumer as well as the ongoing congestion issues at SA ports. But it also reported "strong market and brand share gains in several key product categories", even regional volumes fell 1.3% for the year, while export volumes slumped 11.4%. It is, however, eyeing improved consumer confidence and its second-half volumes had fared better, with regional volumes, which refers to SA and other African markets, up 3.2% in the second half. At the same time, its brands were the "market leaders" in canned meat, canned tomato and frozen pies and pastry, while holding the number 2 positions in fruit juice, canned fruit, jam, canned vegetables, infant meals and spices, herbs and pepper. Operating profit rose 12.7% to R852 million, with a 100-basis-point increase in its operating profit margin to 10.6%, while headline earnings surged 18.2% to R577 million. The company cited its focus on cost controls and said that the "sustained profit and earnings growth" had allowed its directors to increase its dividend payout ratio to shareholders from 33.3% to 50% of headline earnings.



TIger Brands to sell baby-focused interests

SA's largest food producer, Tiger Brands, said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its baby-focused interests, excluding nutrition, for R605 million in cash as it looks to pare down its portfolio and focus on key categories. The sale, which also includes an expected R25 million in proceeds related to selling inventories, includes a wide range of baby toiletry and medical products. It includes all trademarks associated with Elizabeth Anne's, which includes products such as shampoo and petroleum jelly, and all trademarks linked to its baby medicinal brands, Phipps, Muthi Wenyoni, Telament, and Antipeol. The latter group spans products such as milk of magnesia, antacids and ointments. The transaction also includes the rights to manufacture and sell supplements brand Vi-daylin under licence. Tiger Brands will remain the owner of the Purity baby food brand and trademarks, which are associated with its baby nutrition business, and have entered into a limited licence that will allow the purchaser the use of the brand for an agreed period. The group didn't name the buyer, while the sale also follows that of select brands in the home and personal hygiene, such as Bio Classic, Bio Crystal, Kair, Fiesta, Black Silk and Eulactol, for R161 million.-FIN24



Ninety One to own 12.3% of Sanlam Investment Management

Ninety One announced that it has agreed to buy Sanlam Investment Management (SIM) in a deal that will see South Africa's largest insurer Sanlam group owning 12.3% of the fund manager spun out of Investec in 2020. The deal, which was announced on Wednesday alongside Ninety One's interim results, will also see Sanlam appoint the firm as its primary active investment manager for single-managed local and global products. The proposed deal will see Ninety One acquire all the issued shares in SIM, the active investment management business wholly owned by Sanlam Investment Holdings, in which Sanlam holds an effective 65.6% stake. Ninety One will issue new shares for the transaction but will remain an independent investment manager with staff as its largest shareholder. Sanlam CEO Paul Hanratty said on a media call on Wednesday that the value of the proposed deal was close to R5 billion, based on the 12.3% stake in Ninety One through a combination of both its local and London-listed shares. That closing AUM represents growth of 3.5% year-on-year, but the asset manager is also reporting that its net outflows worsened by 9.4% to £5.4 billion, with adjusted operating profit falling 9%. The group cut its interim dividend by 8% to 5.4p per share.-FIN24