Company News in Brief

Remgrow expects 33% to 43% jump in profit Investment holding company Remgro flagged a between 33% and 43% rise in headline earnings per share for its six months to end December to as much as R6.94, reporting improved operational performances from the majority of its investees. It has also restated the prior year’s earnings, to R4.85 from R3.81, after it was determined that TotalEnergies’ contribution had been understated in the prior year due to a higher than necessary writedown related to the disposal of its investment in Natref. The group’s shares jumped after the announcement, but its gains had eased significantly by the late afternoon.



- FIN24 Bytes’ gross income to exceed £2 billion mark JSE-listed UK software and security group Bytes, a former subsidiary of Altron, said gross invoiced income comfortably exceeded £2 billion (R47 billion) for the first time in its year to end February. It further reported operating profit growth in the mid-to-high teens and a second half gross profit acceleration that was balanced across corporate and public sector clients to deliver growth of about 12%. “These results demonstrate the positive trajectory of our business, which benefits from an ever-evolving industry. Our unwavering focus on great customer service drives expansion in our customer base and an increasing share of wallet from our existing customers,” CEO Sam Mudd said in a statement. The group generated gross invoiced income of about £1.8 billion in its 2024 year, and its share had climbed about 17% on the JSE on Tuesday afternoon. 



- FIN24



Old Mutual gets nod for commercial bank offering Old Mutual has received regulatory approval to launch its bank while upping its final dividend on the back of solid profit growth. Old Mutual grew headline earnings by 20% to R8.83 billion in the year to end-December. Adjusted headline earnings, which strip out its Zimbabwean operations due to ongoing currency woes in that country, rose 14% to almost R6.7 billion. The strong results allowed it to raise its final dividend by 6% to 52c a share, taking total shareholder distributions for the year to 86c. The insurance and investment giant also confirmed that it obtained Prudential Authority (PA) approval for its banking licence on 14 March. - FIN24 ARC Investments eyes return to South Africa African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARC Investments), the empowered investment company backed by Patrice Motsepe, has proposed a buyout of minority shareholders and a re-domiciling back to SA amid the gaping discount at which its shares trade. The R9.75 per share offer is a 12.6% premium relative to Monday’s close and values ARC Investments at R14.8 billion. It would leave its Motsepe-founded Ubuntu-Botho Investments, which has about 60.51% of its shares indirectly, in control. But is also a discount of 22.8% to its net asset value as of the end of December. ARC Investments’ main holdings are in TymeBank and its global operations, as well as Rain, the data-only mobile network. It also holds stakes in Alexander Forbes, Sanlam’s third-party asset management, as well as Capital Legacy, one of SA’s largest estate administrators. ARC was founded by Motsepe, along with two former Sanlam veterans, in 2015 - and is that financial services giant’s empowerment partner. It had said in 2024 it would be spending the next year considering whether to stay listed. The shares of the group were trading at about a 30% discount at the end of December. - FIN24



Google owner Alphabet to buy Wiz for $32 billion Alphabet said on Tuesday it would buy Wiz for $32 billion (R579 billion) in its biggest deal as the Google parent doubles down on cybersecurity to sharpen its edge in the cloud-computing race against Amazon.com and Microsoft. The price tag is much higher than the roughly $23 billion Google had offered for Wiz last year before antitrust worries forced the startup to shelve the deal. The buyout will bolster Google’s cloud business with Wiz’s AI-powered cybersecurity solutions that companies use to remove critical risks, helping it compete better in an industry benefiting from the rise of generative AI services like ChatGPT. A harsh regulatory environment in 2024 made it difficult for many firms to push through large deals, but Wall Street is optimistic that the Trump administration will drop some antitrust policies. One of the fastest-growing software startups, Wiz offers cloud-based cybersecurity solutions and was valued at $12 billion in a funding round last May. After the Google deal collapsed, it said in an internal memo that it would focus on an initial public offering and on higher recurring revenue. Interest in the cybersecurity industry has been rising since last year’s global CrowdStrike outage roiled operations across industries, prompting companies to invest heavily into safeguarding their online domains. - Reuters