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In a somewhat slow day for corporate news, Canal+ has continued to regularly buy MultiChoice, whose share remains below its offer price, and more time has been granted for its circular. In international news, Europe's most valuable company, Novo Nordisk, continues to reap the benefits from its weight-loss offerings, Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Takeover Regulation Panel said on Thursday French media giant Canal+ has now built up its stake in MultiChoice to about 42.5% after a series of transactions between 25 April and 30 April, when it spent between R118.05 and R120 per share. Canal+ has made a R125-per-share offer to MultiChoice, with the latter company previously clarifying that Canal+ would still face takeover hurdles even if it tried to build up a controlling stake. MultiChoice also announced that permission had been granted for the release of a circular on the offer to 4 June, with the deadline having been 7 May previously. MultiChoice was down about 0.6% on Wednesday but has still gained almost 48% in the year to date.
MTN Ghana, Africa's largest mobile operator's third-most lucrative market, reported a 49% jump in profit to 1.1 billion Ghanaian cedi (about R1.5 billion) in its first quarter to end March, helped by reduced finance costs and an 87.6% surge in gains on surplus cash invested in call and fixed-term deposits in a high-interest rate environment. Mobile subscribers increased by 1.2% to 27.8 million, active data subscribers increased by 15.3% to 16 million, and data revenue jumped 60%. The group also saw growth in voice and from its MoMo service. Core profit increased, but margins felt some pressure amid a tough backdrop including elevated fuel prices.
