Photo Reuters
Photo Reuters

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Total boosts fuel discount in France

TotalEnergies has increased a summer discount on French fuel prices by 2 cents as the government pressures companies to do more to help customers grappling with accelerating inflation.

The French energy giant said it would offer a discount of 0.12 euros per liter on fuel at its motorway service stations in France from July 1 to Aug. 31.

Total had already extended to end-August a 0.10 euros fuel rebate that expired on May 15. The 0.12 euros summer rebate is limited to its network of 123 stations.

This would result in an overall discount at TotalEnergies service stations of 0.30 euros per liter, including a French state discount of 0.18 euros that Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has offered to keep in place until the year-end

Airport worker Loris Foreman said he has become mindful of the skyrocketing prices, especially at the end of the month when the budget is tighter.

"At the end of the month, I'm really careful with the trips that I make. Now, I only drive from my home to the airport," he said. -Reuters

Absa deliberate about transformation

Absa has promoted four black executives to join Arrie Rautenbach in the group's executive committee, bringing black representation at its leadership level closer to 50%.

Punki Modise, who acted as the group's CFO in 2021, has been appointed the group's chief strategy and sustainability officer. She will lead a newly established environmental, social and governance (ESG) exco portfolio.

Absa will also create new commercial cluster divisions, whose heads will sit on the exco. All the changes are in the group's biggest division, Absa Retail and Business Banking (RBB). It has been broken up into three business units, taking Absa's commercial clusters from two to five. Previously it only had RBB and Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).

Now it will have Everyday Banking, Relationship Banking, Product Solutions, CIB Pan-Africa and RBB Africa Regional Operations. The new operating model comes into effect on 1 July.

Faisal Mkhize, the managing executive of relationship banking at RBB, will now become an executive for relationship banking in SA, focusing on the business banking and private wealth segments. Where he reported to the RBB CEO in the past, he'll now account directly to the group CEO and join the bank's exco.-Fin24

NPA targets Tegeta shares

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has applied to the Gauteng High Court to have shares valued at more than R3.4 billion, owned by the notorious Gupta family's Tegeta Exploration & Resources, forfeited to the State.

"The application seeks to have the shares...forfeited to the State on grounds of having been acquired through the proceeds of unlawful activities and the instrumentality of money laundering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act," the NPA said in a statement.

The application, which was lodged in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday, follows a preservation order that the court granted in March for the attachment of all of Tegeta's shares in Optimum Coal Mine (OCM) and Optimum Coal Terminal (OCT).

The preservation order included OCM's businesses.

The court also made a second decision on a claim of R1.3 billion from Templar Capital, a Bermuda-registered company. The preservation claim against Templar stemmed from an advance from Griffin Line Trading, a company nominally headed by Ajay Gupta's son, Kamal Singhala. -Fin24

Ryanair cancels 10 flights in Spain

Spain-based cabin crew at Ryanair forced the company to cancel 10 flights on Saturday (July 2) on the final day of the crews' current strike, which began on Thursday (June 30).

Palma de Mallorca's airport, in the touristic Balearic Islands, did not have big disruption although some passengers felt surprised by the strike.

Ryanair crew cabin plan to strike for another 12 days in July to demand better working conditions, the USO and SICTPLA unions said on Saturday, potentially causing travel chaos the start of the summer season gets underway.

Cabin crew will strike on July 12-15, July 18-21 and July 25-28 across the 10 Spanish airports where Ryanair operates, the unions said in a statement.

"The unions and crew of Ryanair demand a change of attitude from the airline," the unions said. They called for Ryanair to resume negotiations on working conditions.

Spain-based cabin crew at easyJet are also striking for nine days in July to demand higher pay. The airline cancelled five flights from Spain on Saturday.-Reuters

Comments

Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

No comments have been left on this article

Please login to leave a comment

Katima Mulilo: 20° | 31° Rundu: 20° | 34° Eenhana: 21° | 34° Oshakati: 23° | 33° Ruacana: 20° | 30° Tsumeb: 21° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 20° | 31° Omaruru: 25° | 34° Windhoek: 20° | 31° Gobabis: 21° | 33° Henties Bay: 16° | 24° Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Walvis Bay: 16° | 23° Rehoboth: 22° | 34° Mariental: 23° | 37° Keetmanshoop: 22° | 38° Aranos: 23° | 36° Lüderitz: 16° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 40° Oranjemund: 13° | 21° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 20° | 34° Lubumbashi: 18° | 33° Mbabane: 16° | 31° Maseru: 14° | 30° Antananarivo: 13° | 32° Lilongwe: 19° | 32° Maputo: 19° | 33° Windhoek: 20° | 31° Cape Town: 16° | 21° Durban: 18° | 27° Johannesburg: 16° | 29° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 29° Harare: 16° | 26° #REF! #REF!