Company News in Brief

Anglo American’s Finish



project listed as strategic Diversified mining giant Anglo American announced that its Sakatti copper and poly-metallic project in Finland has been designated as a ‘Strategic Project’ by the European Commission. Under EU law, these are considered to be in the public interest due to their importance in ensuring security of supply of strategic raw materials in the EU, thereby benefitting from more efficient processing of permitting applications and therefore more predictable development timelines. Sakatti’s principal metals are copper - the primary metal - but also nickel, platinum and palladium, as well as cobalt, gold and silver. “The EU currently produces about 4% of the critical minerals it needs and has a stated ambition to increase this to 10%,” said Anglo American’s Projects & Development Director, Alison Atkinson, in the statement. With Sakatti expected to deliver around 100 000 tonnes of copper equivalent metal production per year from the early 2030s, Anglo expects to play a significant role in helping to build Europe’s capacity and security of responsible supply, she said. -FIN24



Oceana profits expected to fall 40%Fishing group Oceana, which flagged an at least 40% fall in headline earnings per share for its six months to end March in February, reported on Tuesday that its US fishing business Daybrook also saw a 17% fall in volumes due to the timing of fish oil sales during the period. But Lucky Star Foods achieved a 5% increase in sales volumes, driven by sustained demand for affordable protein and the continued brand and range expansion strategy. The group added that the prior period sales volumes were strong, benefitting from the favourable timing of the price increase and an earlier Easter holiday in that period. The group also announced it is winding up a trust created in its 2021 broad-based black economic empowerment transaction, having not nominated beneficiaries, as it has created limited value. This trust was aimed at supporting black-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. This will have the effect of reducing its shares in issue by 0.5% as the group repurchases the shares for 1c each, with the group noting that its Employee Trust - which holds 6% - continues. -FIN24



Barloworld struggles through first five months of financial year Industrial and consumer group Barloworld on Tuesday flagged even more pressure on local sales for the first five months of its 2025 year, with pressure on local equipment sales intensifying amid tepid mining activity. The exclusive dealer of Caterpillar equipment in the southern Africa Region, and also has a dealer license in Russia, said in a voluntary update that that revenue fell 4.9% to R14.8 billion in the five months to end February, a decline from the 1% revenue growth it reported for its four months to end January, and it reported that for the five months, its equipment southern Africa business saw its revenue slide 9.2% to R8.8 billion. Vostochnaya Technica (VT), also had a tough February, with its revenue declining 25.3% to $60.3 million (R1.1 billion) - from a slide of 23.3% to end January. On Tuesday it said ebitda slumped 83% to $2.3 million for the five months - hit by lower activity levels and curtailed inventory supply. “We expect VT to continue to trade at break-even levels as we optimise the structure in accordance with the lower activity levels. VT remains self-sufficient in terms of its funding requirements,” it said on Tuesday. But it added that it “continues to review various options to preserve shareholder value in respect of its investment in VT. The market will remain updated on this process at the appropriate time.” -FIN24







Investee companies drive Remgro growth Remgro, the diversified investment holding firm chaired by Johann Rupert, reported a jump in earnings on Tuesday. It was helped by a strong showing by major investees, including Rainbow, which has joined the JSE, and Mediclinic, which recently departed. Headline earnings jumped 38.7% to R3.7 billion in the six months to end December, with the contribution from Rainbow Chicken surging to R255 million from R18 million, while RCL Foods saw its contribution jump 40% jump to R783 million. Rainbow, which listed separately on the JSE mid last year, benefited from, among other things, a reduction in bird flu and an abatement in load shedding, but the group reported improved performances across major investees, with Mediclinic’s contribution surging 56% to R883 million. Remgro upped its interim dividend by 20% to 96c per share and reported its intrinsic net asset value per share increased by 10.3% to R276.89 at end December - when it was trading at a 44% discount to its underlying value on the JSE. -FIN24