COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Bidvest reports 6% half-year profit riseSouth Africa's diversified service provider Bidvest Group reported a 6.1% year-on-year rise in profit for the six months that ended Dec. 31, the company said on Monday.Profit was lifted by the contribution from PHS, the UK-based hygiene company bought in December 2019. It was also boosted by higher demand for hygiene and facility services, DIY products and bulk commodity services.Bidvest had embarked on a portfolio clean-up just before the pandemic struck Africa's most industrialised economy its primary market. It unbundled its food services business, booked impairment costs in an airline and disposed of its vehicle transport services.Its normalised headline earnings per share (HEPS), which excludes some items such as acquisition costs and Covid-19 related expenses, was 651.6 cents for the six months, up 6.1% from the corresponding period a year ago. HEPS is the main profit measure for South African companies.Its revenue for the period grew by 3.4% to R44.4 billion (US$2.95 billion), the company said. Bidvest, which provides business-to-business solutions in cleaning, hygiene, travel, catering, freight, and logistics, declared an interim dividend of 290 cents per share, up 2.8%. - Nampa/ReutersStandard Bank to assess East Africa oil pipelineSouth Africa's Standard Bank has hired an independent environmental and social advisor to help assess its involvement in Total's East African Crude Oil Pipeline that environmental groups have opposed, it said on Monday.About 263 civil society organisations from around the world, have urged the chief executives of 25 banks not to participate in loans to fund the construction of the US$3.5 billion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline.They have argued in an open letter that this pipeline would pose immense threats to local communities, water supplies, and biodiversity in Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.Standard Bank acknowledged receipt of the letter, saying it was following its own internal processes and had retained the services of an independent environmental and social advisor."As part of this process, the advisors will visit the project area and will issue a full environmental and social due diligence report, at which time Standard Bank Group will make a decision on the way forward," it said in an emailed response. -Nampa/ReutersSouth Africa's Steinhoff in talks with insurers South Africa's Steinhoff International Holdings NV is in talks with insurers to help settle lawsuits instituted against the retail group by claimants who lost money when it revealed holes in its accounts in December 2017, the firm's CFO said on Monday.Litigation remains a significant outstanding challenge for the retailer, which has proposed a US$1 billion global lawsuit settlement plan to settle about 90 separate legal claims in the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa.The combined claims of those who have quantified their alleged damages are in excess of R136 billion (US$9.12 billion), Steinhoff has said.A court must now set a date for convening a creditors' meeting in which the litigants must vote on the proposal, which the company has indications would be supported by claimants.Steinhoff has "received positive indication from a lot of litigants that they will support" the proposal, Group Financial Officer Theodore de Klerk told Reuters in an interview. - Nampa/ReutersADQ assets estimated at US$110 billionAbu Dhabi's state holding company ADQ is worth US$110 billion, sovereign wealth fund tracker Global SWF said the first publicly available estimate of ADQ's assets under management.Established in 2018, ADQ has gained prominence over the past year as Abu Dhabi consolidated several government assets under its banner.ADQ, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, owns Abu Dhabi Ports, Abu Dhabi Airport and bourse operator ADX.It has also built up a portfolio of food and agriculture businesses and last year agreed to acquire an indirect 45% equity stake in commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Co.Global SWF said on Monday that ADQ, the third-largest sovereign fund in Abu Dhabi, has US$110 billion in assets under management, most of them domestic. -Nampa/ReutersCoStar sweetens deal to buy CoreLogicCommercial property data vendor CoStar Group Inc on Monday sweetened the deal to buy CoreLogic Inc by adding US$450 million more to the original offer.Under the terms of the new proposal, CoreLogic shareholders would receive $6 per share in cash and 0.1019 shares of CoStar's common stock in exchange for each share of CoreLogic.CoStar had made a US$6.9 billion all-stock offer for CoreLogic last month, gate crashing a smaller buyout deal between the real estate data provider and two private equity firms.The offer is higher than the US$6 billion deal CoreLogic and private equity firms Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners had agreed on last month.Reuters reported last week that CoreLogic had asked peer CoStar for more assurances that it can complete their combination should it attract antitrust scrutiny.CoStar on Monday said the merger does not present any meaningful antitrust concerns, adding, it will agree to an antitrust covenant that it will take all actions to obtain the required antitrust approvals. - Nampa/Reuters

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