COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Hammerson says footfall recovery encouraging

Hammerson named a new finance chief and said it was encouraged by a recovery in footfall at its malls in England as the country lifted some coronavirus-related restrictions this month.

The mall operator named Himanshu Raja, previously finance head at real estate agent Countrywide, as its new chief financial officer replacing James Lenton who is resigning this month.

Hammerson, which owns Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre, has been overhauling its business and selling some of its portfolio as it tries to fix its balance sheet. The company reported a 1.7 billion pounds loss in 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which led to shuttering of non-essential shops during multiple lockdowns in the past year, has magnified the problems of the retail brick-and-motor industry as online competition grows.

Many of the regions where Hammerson operates, including France, are still facing coronavirus-related restrictions but the company expects rent collections to improve this year as restrictions ease. - Nampa/Reuters

Mastercard to buy Ekata

Mastercard Inc said on Monday it had agreed to buy digital identity verification company Ekata in a deal valued at US$850 million, as the global payment processor bets on a boom in demand for companies in the digital security space.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a shift to remote working, boosting demand for services to safeguard against cyber fraud.

"The acceleration of online transactions has thrust global digital identity verification to the forefront as one of the biggest opportunities to build digital trust and combat global fraud," said Rob Eleveld, chief executive officer of Ekata, in a statement.

Seattle-headquartered Ekata counts more than 2000 companies as its partners, including credit reporting company Equifax Inc and software firm Intuit Inc, its website showed.

Its products which include Ekata Identity Graph and Ekata Identity Network, allow companies to combat online fraud, it said. The payments processor said the deal is expected to close in the next six months. - Nampa/Reuters

Access Bank to buy Atlas Mara's stake

Nigeria's biggest lender Access Bank said on Monday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in African Banking Corporation of Botswana for cash, a month after it acquired a South African bank.

Access Bank is expanding across Africa to counter stagflation at home and dollar shortages that have frustrated businesses.

The lender will acquire just over 78% of BancABC Botswana for cash of around 1.13 times book value and a two-year deferred payment, amounting to an undisclosed sum, Atlas Mara said in a statement.

The latest acquisition from ABC Holdings, the local unit of London-listed Atlas Mara, brings its African presence to 10 countries. The deal is expected to close before the end of the second quarter.

"We remain committed to a disciplined and thoughtful expansion strategy in Africa, which we believe will create strong, sustainable returns," Access Group Chief Executive Herbert Wigwe said.

BancABC Botswana is the fifth largest bank in Botswana and has a quality retail loan book with the scope for expansion into corporate and small to medium-sized enterprise lending, Access said. - Nampa/Reuters

Coca-Cola results lifted by vaccine rollouts

Coca-Cola Co trounced estimates for quarterly profit and revenue on Monday, fuelled by strong demand for its sodas as vaccine rollouts and relaxed restrictions in Asia encouraged consumers to return to their pre-pandemic routines.

The beverage maker said volumes, a key demand indicator, returned to 2019 levels in March. "We are encouraged by improvements in our business, especially in markets where vaccine availability is increasing and economies are opening up," Chief Executive Officer James Quincey said in a statement.

Consumers bought more sodas in China and India offsetting weakness in the United States and Western Europe, where restrictions were more stringent and consumers preferred to snack or cook more at home.

Coca-Cola heavily depends on away-from-home channels such as sporting events, restaurants and theatres to generate its sales, while rival PepsiCo Inc emerged a pandemic winner since it sells its snacks and beverages largely in supermarkets and grocery stores.

Coca-Cola's unit case volume was flat in the first quarter, after declining for all of last year, while organic sales grew 6%. -Nampa/Reuters

Rio Tinto's iron ore output falls

Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd said first-quarter iron ore production fell 2% as labour shortages and weather-related challenges impacted its mine and port operations.

Tropical cyclone Seroja impacted operations in April while labour resource availability and above average wet weather in the mines disrupted maintenance, Rio said.

Production for the quarter stood at 76.4 million tonnes, down 2% from the same period last year.

The world's biggest iron ore producer shipped 77.8 million tonnes (mt) of the commodity in the quarter ended March 31, compared with 72.9 mt last year.

The miner maintained its forecast of shipping between 325 mt and 340 mt of iron ore in 2021.- Nampa/Reuters