The Daily Update: 13 March

The latest updates from the JSE and NYSE over the past 24 hours.

South Africa

Netcare Limited- Voluntary trading update for the four months ended 31 January 2023

• The company experienced steady improvement in operational and financial performance as the post-COVID operating environment normalises.
• The Group's revenue for the review period grew by 12.3% compared to the prior period, and EBITDA margins continued to improve with EBITDA increasing by over 20%.
• Netcare was successful in becoming the co-anchor on one of the two network tenders for 2023, and the impact of load shedding on operations was well-contained.
• The Group invested R585 million in capex since the implementation of its environmental sustainability strategy in 2013, and the Group achieved a 35% reduction in energy intensity per hospital bed.
• The company also continues to engage and collaborate with stakeholders to address the nursing skills deficit.

MTN Group Limited- Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

• Group service revenue increase by 14.4% to R196.5bn, driven by a 30.4% increase in group data revenue to R73.7bn, and an 8.6% increase in fintech revenue to R17.3bn.
• EBITDA (before one-off items) increased 12.4% to R90.8bn, while earnings per share increased by 40.4% to 1,071cps.
• MTN's leverage improved to 0.8x, while return on equity improved to 23.4%.
• The company's subscriber base grew by 6.1% YoY to 289.1 million, and a final dividend of 330cps was declared. MTN invested R38.2bn in its networks and platforms in 2022.

ABSA Group Limited- Results for the year ended 31 December 2022

• The group has a normalised view of their 2022 annual results, adjusting for the consequences of the separation from Barclays PLC
• Total income increased by 15.1%, while headline earnings per ordinary share and basic earnings per share increased by 13.8% and 15.8%, respectively
• Return on equity increased to 15.6% and the cost-to-income ratio decreased to 52.6%
• Net interest margin increased to 4.56%
• The dividend per ordinary share increased by 65.6% to 1,300 cents.

The Foschini Group Limited- Voluntary trading update in respect of the continued impact of load shedding in South Africa

• Load shedding in South Africa is having a profound impact on the country's economy and businesses, including The Foschini Group Limited.
• retail turnover growth fell to low-single digits due to consistent high levels of load shedding.
• For the 11 months ending 28 February 2023, TFG Africa lost approximately 345,000 trading hours, representing 9.4 times increase from the previous year.
• The impact of lost trading hours on customer demand has been estimated at close to double this figure, with an estimated 685,000 lost trading hours.
• The financial impact of load shedding has resulted in a reduction of TFG Africa's retail turnover by approximately R1 billion in FY2023 (and by more than R250 million in the 2-month period alone).

The U.S.

Pfizer

• Pfizer has agreed to acquire Seagen for about $43B.

HSBC Holdings

• HSBC Holdings just announced it has agreed to acquire Silicon Valley Banks UK subsidiary for 1.
• Deposits will be protected, with no taxpayer support.

Meta

• Meta is planning additional layoffs to be announced in multiple rounds over the coming months that in total would be roughly the same magnitude as the 13% cut to its workforce last year.