Nedbank profits fall by 70%; zero-alcohol limit by December; Bidcorp; ICA

By Claire Badenhorst 

  • Nedbank has reported a 70% profit hit as bad-debt provisions and a slowdown in client activity hit its bottom line. This follows the news that Nedbank CFO Raisibe Morathi, leaves the company to join Vodacom in November. However, demand for home loans and car finance is on the rise, thanks to interest rate cuts and reduced asset prices. Nedbank said it is hopeful that the worst impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are in the past and that bad debts will fall in the next six months. In the interim, the financial services group has suspended dividends as well as “cash bonus payments to certain individuals”. For more on Nedbank’s financial picture, visit BizNews.com where you can see its annual report.
  • South African food services company, Bidcorp, reported a 48% decline in full-year earnings. This is yet another result of the fact that hotels, restaurants, and pubs were forced to close during the nationwide lockdown.
  • In related news, Insurance Claims Africa gets set to fight insurers in court next week for refusing to pay up for Covid-19 business interruption claims. ICA is a specialist loss adjustment firm representing over 700 clients in the tourism and hospitality sector. Professor Alex van den Heever told media on Wednesday that he questions whether we can rely on the wording of insurance policies going forward. “When can you trust the wording and act?” he said. For more details on this Battle Royale between small businesses and powerful insurance companies, see BizNews.com.
  • South Africa seems set to clamp down on drunk drivers. Late on Tuesday, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula pledged that the country will have a zero-alcohol driving limit by December. The National Road Traffic Amendment Bill was approved by Cabinet in March this year, with a promise that it would no longer tolerate driving under the influence. Despite delays caused by the pandemic, the draft law was released in June, and it effectively bans anyone who has had a drink from operating a vehicle, until no alcohol can be detected in their blood or on their breath. “It means that by December this year, there can be no alcohol in your blood when you drive,” Mbalula said. Log in to BizNews Premium, for the latest on SA’s zero-alcohol move.
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