Food manufacturer RFG has had a fairly quiet start to the week, but warned it was still feeling sales pressure, although it wasn't all bad news. On the international front, bad news continues for aircraft manufacturer Boeing after a “technical incident” injured dozens of people on a flight to New Zealand.
RFG is a food group that develops brands such as. Rose, Bull Brand, Magpie, Squish, Vist, said in an update on Monday that its revenue rose just over 5% in the five months to the end of February, which it said was resilient given the weak domestic consumer environment. However, the group's total sales volumes fell by just over 5% amid price inflation of 7.9%. There were some bright spots, with the pie category continuing its recent volume growth momentum and the instant meal category benefiting from the resilience of higher-income consumers in fresh foods. The group added that while diesel costs related to load shedding have eased, it faces cost pressures from rising costs for canned goods and paper packaging. RFG shares, worth about R3.5bn, have fallen by about 5% but are still up by almost a fifth over the past year.
EPE Capital Partners, an investment holding company based in Mauritius reported on Monday that its net asset value per share fell by nearly 15% in the six months to the end of December. The portfolio company has shown strong growth in profitability, with attributable core increasing by 26% over the same period. However, the decline in the value of listed investment companies Brait and MTN Zakhele Futhi reduced his NAV of the company. The group has unlisted portfolio investments including fintech companies Optasia, Crossfine and Timebank shares, and its 22 investments are worth approximately R2.4 billion at fair value. The company attributed the 3% decline in NAV of its unlisted portfolio to a difficult operating environment and currency devaluation. EPE is down nearly 2% and has fallen about 20% in the past 12 months.
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