COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Discovery Bank hits one million accounts
Discovery Bank has launched a variety of offerings, including access to a no-fee account for all clients of the Discovery group and a Vitality pay-as-you-gym system for over 170 Virgin Active and Planet Fitness clubs, after it achieved a million accounts since its public launch in 2020.
"The bank has scaled quickly and built a uniquely powerful digital banking and technology capability. This is now being deployed as the de facto operating system for the Discovery Group in South Africa," Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner said in a statement.
"Discovery Bank’s digital payments technology, advanced security features and shared value rewards capabilities represent a unique opportunity to deliver new products and digital services to all of our clients."
The million accounts are held by over 450 000 clients, with over R11 billion in deposits and R4.5 billion in credit advances currently.
Kallner said hitting the milestone of the first million accounts was an "an endorsement of our shared-value banking model and provides us with a strong foundation to continue to disrupt the market”. -Fin24
Vodacom board member David Brown dies
Vodacom has announced the death of the company's non-executive board member, David Brown, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 59.
Brown joined the board in January 2012 and served as the chairman of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee from July 2013. At the time of his death, Brown was the lead independent director in July 2020 and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
"Over a period of more than ten years, David made a significant contribution to the board having served Vodacom with impeccable measure and sound judgement," the company said.
Khumo Shuenyane will then assume the role of lead independent director and Clive Thomson will take over as chairman of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and become a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Brown served as CEO of Impala Platinum from 1999 to 2012 and was also chairman of Northam Platinum at the time of his death, a position he assumed on 22 June 2021.-Fin24
EasyJet cuts summer flights
British no-frills airline EasyJet on Monday said it was reducing the number of its flights this summer, as the UK aviation sector struggles with severe staff shortages.
Airlines and airports are struggling to recruit staff after the lifting of pandemic lockdowns, which saw the aviation sector slash thousands of posts.


London's Heathrow airport requested that airlines reduced their schedules by 10% at two of its terminals Monday, days after the capital's Gatwick hub said it would handle less traffic than planned this summer.
EasyJet said it "is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports", including Gatwick, which last week announced plans to scale back flights.
Heathrow on Monday apologised "unreservedly for the disruption passengers" had faced at the airport in recent days. -Fin24
Game sees 27% jump in generator sales
Consumers have been flocking to Game stores to stock up on generators and inverters as load shedding continues, resulting in a 27% annual sales boost for the retailer.
Game said inverters were a popular choice for people living in flats and townhouses, where noisy generators are not an option.
"For safety reasons, and due to noise levels attributed to the use of generators, most body corporates in South Africa do not allow the use of generators in apartment complexes – meaning inverters have become a popular option, especially as more people are working from home in 2022," said Neville Hatfield, vice president of merchandise for Game.
The inverters run on batteries, unlike generators, which use diesel. They also tend to be smaller, making indoor storage easy.
However, Hatfield cautioned that inverters have their limits and can’t be used for appliances that come with a thermostat or heating element, like kettles, fridges and microwaves. -Fin24
Harith launches new R4.8bn fund
A new US$300 million (R4.8 billion) fund has been established to help accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in Africa.
Infrastructure investment firm Harith General Partners, and power company Anergi Group, are backing the fund, known as the Pan-African Renewable Energy Fund (PAREF).
Harith and Anergi have been working together over the past 13 years to develop and invest in African power projects, explained Emile du Toit, managing director of fundraising and liabilities at Harith.
Anergi is owned by the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Funds, which is managed by Harith. The power company develops, operates and owns power plants in sub-Saharan Africa. Harith is also known for being the majority partner in the Takatso Consortium, which is the government's strategic equity partner for SAA.
In establishing the partnership, Harith and Anergi sought to tackle the energy accessibility problem in Africa. According to the International Energy Agency's latest Africa Energy Outlook report, 600 million people in Africa, or 43% of the population, do not have electricity access. The majority of which, or 590 million, are in sub-Saharan Africa. -Fin24