It was a quiet day for business news in the South East, with meat producer Escorts announcing a major new expansion of its Gauteng factory. In international news, footwear giant Nike will cut approximately 2% of its global workforce.
Escorts, South Africa's largest pork producer, expanded its production capacity in Gauteng by 50% and officially launched its factory expansion in mid-February. The 10,000 square meter development in Heidelberg, a small town where the company has produced “world-class” pork products for 70 years, will allow Escort to increase production to meet retail needs. The expanded factory is equipped with Africa's largest continuous box freezer, capable of freezing 120,000kg of product to -18°C every 24 hours. The boxes move through the freezer on a conveyor belt. There, the air is kept at -41°C, a temperature that only occurs naturally in polar regions. The company said the opening of the factory expansion marks the next stage of growth for the company, which was founded in 1917 in the small town of Escort in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Escort's farmers are shareholders in the company, its pork is antibiotic-free, and huge investments have been made. He added that in biosecurity, being backed by international and national certifications means premium export quality products are trusted by consumers.
ICT specialized investment holding company Cognition reported that its net profit fell by around 94% to R3.9 million in the six months to the end of December. Sales decreased by 8.6% to R37.3 million. In the prior year comparative period, there was a one-off gain from the sale of private property concluded, but in the 2024 half the company benefited from higher interest rates, with pre-tax profit increasing from R6 to R8.8 million. Did. . 3000000. Cognition, valued at around R240-million on the JSE, owns companies such as MediaWorx, which provides multi-channel services such as fax-to-email and web development, and research services such as data collection. We also offer While Cognition does have significant cash resources of R206 million, it says the difficult economic environment and the rise of globalization are impacting its ability to expand its business and leverage capital from its existing business base. the company said Friday. “In response, we are focused on improving our systems and product offerings through innovation while reducing costs wherever possible.” Cognition shares fell 2% in late afternoon trading, but , which has risen more than 13% in the past year.
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