COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Vodafone's new CEO axes 11 000 jobs
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said it planned to axe 11 000 jobs over the next three years as new chief executive Margherita Della Valle seeks a "simpler" organisation.
"Our performance has not been good enough," Della Valle said alongside news of flat annual revenue at the group.
At 11 000 positions, Vodafone is seen axing more than 10 percent of its global workforce, which stood at 104 000 staff last year.
"To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change," Della Valle added in a statement.
"We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness," added Della Valle, appointed CEO on a permanent basis at the start of May after five months as interim boss.
Vodafone's announcement follows the axing this year of tens of thousands of jobs across the global tech sector, including by Facebook parent Meta, as soaring inflation weakened the economy.
Della Valle's predecessor Nick Read stepped down in early December after a four-year tenure marked by a steep fall in the company's share price.
He left with Vodafone in talks over merging its UK operations with rival Three UK, owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.-Fin24
Santam warns of hit from power surges
South Africa's biggest short-term insurer Santam warned its profit margins fell below the bottom end of its target range in its first quarter to end-March, hit by claims from adverse weather as well as load shedding-related power surges.
Overall, the net underwriting margin for the period in its conventional insurance was below the bottom end of the target range of 5% to 10%, Santam said in a trading update, referring to the profit margin that an insurer makes on its policies.
Santam, valued at more than R30 billion on the JSE, had reported a net underwriting margin of 5.1% in its 2022 year, down from 8% in the prior year, taking a hit from flooding in KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022.
In February 2023, the Presidency had declared a state of disaster after flooding hit Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape, and North West.
The company said that despite this, the group showed "operational resilience and achieved sound financial results for the period". The conventional insurance business achieved gross written premium growth of 6%, from 8% in 2022, with its specialist solutions business seeing strong demand in terms of marine, aviation and travel.-Fin24
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said it planned to axe 11 000 jobs over the next three years as new chief executive Margherita Della Valle seeks a "simpler" organisation.
"Our performance has not been good enough," Della Valle said alongside news of flat annual revenue at the group.
At 11 000 positions, Vodafone is seen axing more than 10 percent of its global workforce, which stood at 104 000 staff last year.
"To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change," Della Valle added in a statement.
"We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness," added Della Valle, appointed CEO on a permanent basis at the start of May after five months as interim boss.
Vodafone's announcement follows the axing this year of tens of thousands of jobs across the global tech sector, including by Facebook parent Meta, as soaring inflation weakened the economy.
Della Valle's predecessor Nick Read stepped down in early December after a four-year tenure marked by a steep fall in the company's share price.
He left with Vodafone in talks over merging its UK operations with rival Three UK, owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.-Fin24
Santam warns of hit from power surges
South Africa's biggest short-term insurer Santam warned its profit margins fell below the bottom end of its target range in its first quarter to end-March, hit by claims from adverse weather as well as load shedding-related power surges.
Overall, the net underwriting margin for the period in its conventional insurance was below the bottom end of the target range of 5% to 10%, Santam said in a trading update, referring to the profit margin that an insurer makes on its policies.
Santam, valued at more than R30 billion on the JSE, had reported a net underwriting margin of 5.1% in its 2022 year, down from 8% in the prior year, taking a hit from flooding in KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022.
In February 2023, the Presidency had declared a state of disaster after flooding hit Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape, and North West.
The company said that despite this, the group showed "operational resilience and achieved sound financial results for the period". The conventional insurance business achieved gross written premium growth of 6%, from 8% in 2022, with its specialist solutions business seeing strong demand in terms of marine, aviation and travel.-Fin24
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