By Linda van Tilburg
- President Cyril Ramaphosa is “favourably disposed” to a proposal by Cosatu to use funds from the Public Investment Corporation to reduce Eskom’s debt, his spokeswoman Khusela Diko told Reuters yesterday. It follows after Cosatu proposed a package of rescue measures for Eskom and the cornerstone of its plan is for the PIC and two local development finance groups to invest about R250bn in Eskom via a special purpose vehicle to reduce its R450bn debt. Diko said Ramaphosa agreed on a meeting on Monday with Cosatu that the mandates of fiduciary duties of the PIC and other institutions should however not be undermined. The PIC said any approach for funding must be supported by a credible business case and geared towards delivering sustainable returns for its clients. The executive chairman of Rotshchild South Africa, Martin Kingston who attended the meeting on Monday, said the sale of Eskom assets should not be restricted in an appropriately regulated electricity supply industry.
- Members of parliament scrutinising amounts owed to Eskom are discovering to their frustration that there may be more than one version of the truth. Charged with getting to the bottom of how much Eskom is actually owed, the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Municipal Debt to Eskom, claimed in a submission to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in December that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was the biggest debtor, owing R3bn as of June 2019. But in its submission to the committee yesterday the department said it owes “much less” prompting the committee, known as Scopa, to say that all relevant governmental and municipal stakeholders responsible for the escalating debt owed to Eskom should appear before it jointly.
- Trade union Numsa says South African Airways is planning to accelerate job cuts. A meeting is planned for today with the unions and the airline declined to add any further comment. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has objected to South African Airways’ business rescue practitioners approaching the Unemployment Insurance Fund for assistance. The practitioners have confirmed that they met with the UIF to seek solutions to alleviate the financial challenges to SAA and its employees. Bloomberg reports that the move by the practitioners indicates that job cuts are being considered as part of a turnaround plan for SAA which they are due to present to the Government by the end of the month. The DA says SAA has no right to approach the UIF. “It opens up a can of worms”, where any company in trouble can approach the UIF for assistance.
- It is “almost inevitable that the British discount retailer Poundland would be sold by Steinhoff. “That is according to Pepco Group CEO Andy Bond. Bond told Reuters he was ‘genuinely open-minded” on the various disposal options including a private equity sale, initial public offering or trade sale to an industry peer – and added that it was “early days” in the process. Sky News reported earlier this week that three private equity firms – Advent International, Hellmand & Friedman and Mid Europa Partners had teamed up for a possible bid for Pepco that could be valued at more than €4.5bn. Steinhoff which has been battling the fallout from its 2017 accounting scandal said last year that it was evaluating a range of strategic options for Pepco Group, including a potential public listing. Bond told Reuters that the restructuring agreement that Steinhoff has with its creditors means it’s almost inevitable that Pepco will be sold.
- The incredible six-day 60% rally in Tesla shares that left Wall Street watchers scratching their heads, screeched to a halt yesterday. Shares of the electrical vehicle maker fell 9.4% to just more than $803 after rising to $968 on Tuesday in what looked like an unstoppable advance. The rapid run in Tesla shares over the past three months, which accelerated to a dizzying pace over the past week, came on the back of two strong quarterly reports, the quick construction of its China factory, an ahead-of-schedule launch of the new Model Y crossover vehicle and a first profit for the battery plant the company jointly operates in Nevada with Panasonic. Some also pointed to the significant amount of short interest in Tesla and said at least part of the rally was explained by investors exiting bearish positions.
Visited 238 times, 1 visit(s) today
