Company News in Brief

South Africa's MTN teams up with China Telecom, Huawei on 5G, AI MTN South Africa has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Telecom and Huawei for strategic collaboration that could advance the mobile operator's offerings in 5G, cloud, AI and business solutions, it said on Tuesday."This partnership unites China Telecom's global expertise in network solutions with MTN's expansive regional reach and Huawei's advanced technology, creating a powerful alliance to drive digital infrastructure development on the continent," said Kai Chen, executive vice president of China Telecom Global .MTN South Africa, the country's second biggest mobile operator, said the partnership would unlock new business opportunities and offer South Africans enhanced technology, including the internet of things.The internet of things, or IoT, describes devices connecting to the internet that aren't primarily computers, such as fridges."For MTN's business customers, network service improvements could offer new possibilities in smart mining and industrial applications," said Tumi Sekhukhune-Chamayou, chief enterprise business officer at MTN South Africa.-REUTERS TotalEnergies targets new exploration area offshore South AfricaTotalEnergies is seeking environmental authorisation to drill up to seven exploration wells in the southern part of its Deep Water Orange Basin block off the west coast of South Africa, documents from environmental consultants SLR showed on Tuesday.Oil companies including Shell are looking towards South Africa's west coast, close to the border with Namibia, where a raft of discoveries in its prolific Orange Basin holds the promise of more finds further south where the basin extends.TotalEnergies EP South Africa, the operator, is targeting a new area in the south of DWOB, which is found in very deep water some 200 kilometres (124 miles) from shore between Port Nolloth and Saldanha Bay.The company received authorisation in 2023 to explore for oil and gas in the northern part of DWOB."TEEPSA now wants to explore for oil and gas in a new area of interest within the southern part of the licence block," a document from SLR environmental consultancy showed.SLR is an independent environmental consultancy that has been commissioned to undertake an environmental impact assessment, part of the regulatory process needed before TotalEnergies can commence any exploration activities.The area of interest where the French company, which earlier this year relinquished interest in other blocks offshore South Africa, plans to explore is almost 15,000 km2.TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.-REUTERS South Africa's Pepkor returns to profit, better prepared for supply chain woesSouth African discount retailer Pepkor Holdings swung into profit in its full year, it said on Tuesday, while its CEO said it was better prepared this time around for any supply chain disruptions going into the holiday season.Pepkor, the owner of PEP and Ackermans clothing brands, reported a profit before tax of 3.7 billion rand ($204.3 million) in the year to Sept. 30, from a restated loss of 502 million rand.Headline earnings per share (HEPS) from continuing operations eased 0.4% to 140.2 cents. On a comparable 52-week basis, normalised HEPS grew by 10.3% from 127.1 cents.The group said it gained additional market share and increased its gross profit margin through higher full-price sales, while customer acquisition in its retail operations drove growth in its fintech business.In addition to ongoing Red Sea shipping disruptions, local fashion retailers have been struggling to get products through local ports onto shelves due to congestion caused by ailing infrastructure.The disruptions affected product availability at Pepkor's biggest clothing business Pep in the first half of the reporting period.This time last year to earlier this year, Pepkor had over a billion rands worth of stock sitting at the ports."This year, going into summer and for next year winter, we have decided to bring the stock forward," CEO Pieter Erasmus told Reuters. "We've said, let's rather bring it in a month or six weeks before."-REUTERS

Company News in Brief

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