COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Northam shareholders shoot down remuneration policyShareholders in Northam Platinum Holdings have voted against the group's remuneration policy and implementation report, prompting the company to invite dissenting investors to engage further.In an annual general meeting held on Tuesday, 56.48% of Northam shareholders voted against the group's remuneration policy and 55.99% voted down the remuneration implementation report.The implementation report puts forward remuneration of R46.57 million for Northam CEO Paul Dunne for the year ended in June, up from R40 million in 2021; and R21 million for Alet Coetzee, the company's CFO, up from R14.6 million in the previous year.This comes after the group reported a 7.6% drop in operating profit to R14.9 billion for the previous financial year as an expansion of the group's production profile caused unit cash costs to rise by 18.9% while softer metal prices also ate into margins.Because more than 25% of the votes cast by shareholders present or represented by proxy at the annual general meeting voted against the two ordinary resolutions, the company has invited dissenting shareholders to send their comments, concerns, questions recommendations regarding the remuneration policy or implementation report to the company secretary.This, Northam noted, is in accordance with the JSE Limited Listings Requirements and the recommendations of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa."The company's remuneration committee endeavours to ensure that remuneration across the group is aligned with the group’s strategy and creates sustainable value for all stakeholders. We believe that open, transparent and meaningful engagement with shareholders is important to continually mature the remuneration policies and practices of the group," Northam said in a statement. "We therefore look forward to engaging with shareholders."-Fin24Transnet counts the cost of cable theftAs Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) works to normalise operations in the wake of a wage strike, it is counting the cost of cable theft, and vandalism as criminals took advantage of the industrial action, with replacement cable expected to cost as much as R24 million on one key corridor alone. During the two-week strike, which was called off last Wednesday, the state-owned rail operator said it not only experienced a considerable loss in volume throughput – as much as 82% in one week – but it also suffered an increase in copper cable theft. This, in turn, resulted in 257 trains being stranded, or "staged", across the network, although 234 of these had been cleared as of Tuesday.The container corridor was hit the hardest with a 22% increase in cable theft on this part of the network during the strike and some 12kms stolen during this time with an estimated replacement cost of R24 million.The remaining 23 staged trains are on this corridor which serves as a key logistics enabler linking the Port of Durban with the Gauteng economic hub.Rudzani Ligege, managing executive of the container corridor, said that security had been beefed up, especially between Mooi River and Lions River, which has proved to be a hotspot."There's been a number of arrests that have been made in that particular area and also some of the recovery of the cables that have been stolen," he said. "So we're hoping that in the next eight hours, we should start seeing improvement in that particular area."-Fin24Komati turnaround will cost close to R8bnRepurposing Eskom's coal-fired power station, Komati, would cost around R7.9 billion, project documents from the World Bank show.Eskom has been engaging with the World Bank in providing funding for the re-powering and repurposing of Komati. The power station's first unit was commissioned in 1961, and it had nine operational units, each with a capacity of 100MW. The last unit is to be decommissioned at the end of October. But Eskom has relied on multiple socioeconomic assessments to determine how to give the power station, situated in Mpumalanga, a second life so that it can continue to support the local economy and livelihoods of those in the affected region.Komati is located in the Steve Tshwete municipality, and the coal value chain in the area contributes to 35% of the area's gross value. The area has a young population, and assessments have shown that those that would be most vulnerable if Komati were to shut down include farming communities, youth and women.During a discussion hosted by the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) on Tuesday, Eskom's senior consultant on climate change and sustainable development, Beauty Mazibuko, unpacked the funding requirements to re-power and repurpose the station.In total, the funding requirements stand at around US$490 million or R7.9 billion, Mazibuko said. The presentation to the PCC indicated discussions on the funding with the World Bank are at advanced stages. Mazibuko said that Eskom has engaged with the World Bank Group, which has developed a just energy transition project for Komati.The proposed development objectives are to support the decommissioning of the station, repurpose the plant with renewables and also create opportunities for workers and communities.-Fin24Megayacht is free to dock at SA portsSouth Africa’s government said it has “no reason” to apply sanctions brought against Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov and that his US$500 million megayacht is free to dock at its ports.Mordashov is the biggest shareholder in steelmaker Severstal PJSC and was sanctioned by the European Union, the UK and US after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The mogul’s 142-meter Nord passed north of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Tuesday and is expected to arrive in Cape Town on November 9, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows.Geordin Hill-Lewis, Cape Town’s DA mayor, on Monday called for the vessel to be denied entry. But the government, which in March abstained from a United Nations vote condemning the invasion, rejected the plea. “South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU,” Vincent Magwenya, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman, told reporters Tuesday in Pretoria, the capital. “We have no reason to prevent their entry into South Africa.Mordashov, Russia’s third-richest person, has been in Moscow since the Nord’s earlier arrival in Hong Kong, a spokesperson for the billionaire said last week. The spokesperson declined to comment on the vessel’s movements. “South Africa’s obligations with respect to sanctions relate only to those that are specifically adopted by the United Nations,” Magwenya said. “Currently there are no UN-imposed sanctions on the particular individual.”-Fin24

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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