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MONDI will enter the JSE blue chip Top-40 on friday, replacing TELKOM. TELKOM will be demoted to the mid cap stocks, having lost a major part of its valuation after selling and spinning off its stake in VODACOM GROUP. MONDI appears to be moving out of the slump after forecasting an improvement in volumes and said cost cuts had left it poised to perform well in the year ahead.

ADCOCK INGRAM HOLDINGS will sell a 13% stake in the company to black investor groups by the end of April. ADCOCK will issue shares to two different classes of investors within the structure it has chosen for the R1.32bn stake sale. About 19.5m shares will be sold to five "strategic investors" identified by ADCOCK, and 6.5m shares will be issued to ADCOCK employees who qualify to participate in the empowerment transaction. The deal will cost ADCOCK ordinary shareholders R350m.

PALLINGHURST's platinum company PLATMIN is increasing its platinum group metals output to expectation, according to CEO ARNE FRANDSEN. PLATMIN in Jan. said the reaching of full capacity of 250 000 PGM oz a year would be delayed by 12 months until early 2011. PALLINGHURST was also consolidating its manganese and iron-ore interests to create a "South African-Australian approach" to growth participation. The company recorded a $62.4m net profit in the year to Dec. compared with a $46.4m loss in 2008. A bankable feasibility study of Magazynskraal platinum prospect had begun and the Tshipi feasibility study had revealed and inferred and indicated resource of 163.2m tons of manganese ore at an average grade of 37% in the Kalahari Basin. The strategy was to build PALLINGHURST's portfolio of PGM investments into a significant PGM platform through the acquisition and consolidation of low-cost operations.

A veil of secrecy has been drawn over negotiations about the possible reclassification of companies, which could have far-reaching results of the JSE and asset managers. On Monday JSE CE RUSSELL LOUBSER told the annual congress of the Association of Savings and Investment that, should reclassification take place, foreign companies would not list their shares in SA. This could render the JSE irrelevant as the seven SA companies with their primary listings offshore would themselves become less accessible to SA investors. These companies include ANGLO AMERICAN, BHP BILLITON, SABMILLER, OLD MUTUAL, INVESTEC, DIMENSION DATA and RICHEMONT. Reclassification would further place them in an unfavourable light because their shares would not be included in SA indices. The talks on reclassification come in the wake of an investigation by the London School of Economics which discusses the Reserve Bank, National Treasury and other interested parties. The reclassification is also being considered as a way to modernise exchange control.

COAL OF AFRICA today reported a headline loss per share of 4.48 Australian cents for the half year ended Dec. 2009 from a loss of 0.32c y/y. It reported an after tax loss of Aus$35.183m compared with a loss of Aus$1.294m a year ago, which included an impairment to the Holfontein thermal coal project of Aus$8.693m. Other financial investments were impaired by Aus$5.223m primarily attributable to the Aus$5m revaluation of the company's Zimbabwean investment. The depreciation charge was Aus$6.918m. Foreign exchange losses totalled Aus$3.615m. The cash balance at the end of Dec. was Aus$94.042m.

HOSKEN CONSOLIDATED INVESTMENTS Ltd plans to sell its 35% stake in CLOVER INDUSTRIES Ltd for R337.4m, it said yesterday. HCI will sell the stake back to CLOVER. HCI's only investment in CLOVER would be R110m in preference shares, whose rights are limited to a fixed dividend and CLOVER has agreed to buy them back at a fixed date in three years time. Meanwhile MANIE ROODE, deputy CEO of CLOVER said the company would consider listing, and was busy with plans to list its preference shares and will also list ordinary shares once approval is obtained from shareholders.

GRINAKER-LTA categorically rejects claims that North Korean workers have been involved in the construction of the Soccer City stadium. Speculation arising from various reports out of North and South Korea yesterday, are incorrect. Soccer City Project Director MIKE MOODY said 98% of workers that played a role in the construction of Soccer City were South Africans. In instances where skills were not readily available, international workers were employed through partnerships with INTERBETON of the Netherlands and CIMOLAI SPA of Italy.

ASTRAL FOODS is SA's second-largest chicken producer and supplies MCDONALDS and KFC with hamburger buns - but no chicken. The group supplies buns, English muffins, kaiser rolls and other sandwich carriers to fast-food outlets through EAST BALT. ASTRAL's new bakery in Cape Town would employ at least 120 people, and double that if the plant ran at full capacity. The bakery would be ready to operate at the end of July and CEO CHRIS SCHUTTE remained hopeful that at some stage the group would be able to put its "own chicken in the bun". In the past few months ASTRAL has seen an increase in demand for smaller packaging and have had to adapt to that. "They still want the bird but in a smaller portion", SCHUTTE said. The poultry business is benefiting from lower input costs.

Tough trading conditions in personnel outsourcing would prevail for at least another 18 months, PRIMESERV warned yesterday. While SA's economy might have passed the worst of the economic downturn, CEO MERRICK ABEL said re-employment tended to lag recovery by 6-12 months. Operating profit for PRIMESERV's core outsourcing division fell by 31% to R19.2m due to extensive retrenchment by heavy construction projects and mining businesses. The division experienced a great deal of margin pressure in the period due in part to the acquisition of DENVERDRAFT. PRIMESERV noted the recent "speculation and debate" about a legislative crackdown on labour broking, and said it would welcome new regulation if it comes along. PRIMESERV managed to increase its cash holdings by 70% to R27.8m, while reducing gearing from 29%-3%.

A recent study by SYNOVATE found that half of South Africans aged 16 and older would be prepared to buy a TELKOM SIM card. The research found that 68% of those interviewed felt there was sufficient space for another mobile operator to enter the market, 71% believed TELKOM had the infrastructure, and 68% believed it had sufficient sales and distribution channels to sell its products. 77% of respondents said TELKOM's offering would have to be unique for them to consider it. TELKOM has indicated that it plans to move into the mobile market as part of its renewed business strategy. It's entry into the mobile market would bring it into a sector with an annual revenue of R60bn, dominated by MTN and VODACOM. TELKOM yesterday would not reveal when it planned to launch its mobile service, which was initially expected to have taken place in Feb.

ANGLO AMERICAN yesterday threw down the gauntlet to competitors, saying it was hungry for opportunities and ready to benefit from the next commodities boom. Chairman JOHN PARKER spoke of how the group had been restructured to introduce a new operating model that was designed to make ANGLO "nimble, lean and fit". The company was now clear on its strategic priorities, and focused on the commodities it considers will give it the best mix for the future. PARKER said ANGLO's bold restructuring of the group had enabled it to become a more effective organisation, and there was now a new sense of purpose for the group. He said the road map for ANGLO under CEO CYNTHIA CARROLL was now clear and what remained was to create and enchance shareholder value. Analysts believe CARROLL will be under greater pressure to deliver on the strategy, from shareholders who were last year annoyed when ANGLO decided against paying dividends in a bid to conserve cash. PARKER said a resumption of dividend payments was a key priority for his board.

WOOLWORTHS will launch a new private label range aimed at consumers with tighter budgets by the end of the month. The new range, called WOOLWORTHS Essentials, was in line with the retailing trend of introducing private label products. The range will include core basic products across all food departments as well as household cleaning products and toiletries. WOOLWORTHS will have nearly 200 lines of the products in its stores. Some of the range is existing products which had been repackaged but more than half are new additions. The range is competitively priced, but the group hasn't compromised on quality.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed BARLOWORLD LTD's National Long-term rating at 'A+(zaf)' and the domestic medium-term note issue rating at 'A+(zaf)'. The National short-term rating has been affirmed at 'F1(zaf)'. The outlook is negative. The ratings are supported by BARLOWORLD's continued focus on conserving cash, lower debt positions at financial year of 2009 and slightly improved liquidity profile. Total debt from continuing operations reduced to R8.84bn at financial year 2009, from R9.28bn y/y, while cash from continuing operations increased to R1.6bn from R1.2bn. FITCH notes that limited headroom exists at current high leverage levels, and that negative rating action may follow should BARLOWORLD's financial and leverage profiles not significantly improve over the next 18 months. The Negative Outlook reflects Fitch's continued concerns regarding the vulnerability of BARLOWORLD's credit metrics to a sustained economic downturn and delayed demand recovery.

SABMILLER yesterday said that on Mar. 12 it successfully priced a Peruvian Nuevos Soles $150m or approx. $52.8m - note issued under the PEN 1.5bn Guaranteed Medium Term Note Programme established by it and its wholly-owned subsidiary RACETRACK PERU S.R.L. The issue comprises PEN 150m 5-year notes with a coupon of 6.75%. The net proceeds of the issue will be used for the repayment of loans incurred to fund the acquisition of securities of UNION DE CERVECARIAS PERUANAS BACKUS Y JOHNSTON S.A.A.and/or the general corporate purposes, SABMILLER said. The issue is scheduled to close on Mar. 19.

The DONALD GORDON family is fully supportive of the planned demerger of LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL into two separate listed businesses. GORDON originally established the property business in 1980 and the family currently owns about 15% of LIBINT. DAVID FISCHEL, LIBINT CEO, yesterday said RICHARD GORDON would be on the board of CAPITAL SHOPPING CENTRES, while GRAEME GORDON would be on the board of CAPITAL AND COUNTIES. The SA register of LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL accounted for 40% of the group's total shareholding. FISCHEL said 20% of this shareholding was in the hands of larger institutions, 10% in the hands of smaller investors and 10% owned by the GORDON family. FISCHEL said the long-term view was that the two new businesses would deliver the best returns separately rather than together and that international investors preferred specialisation. The demerger is expected to be effective from May 7, but is still conditional on LIBINT shareholder approval, among other things.

PUTPROP yesterday reported a 5.4% decline in HEPS to 31.5c in the six months to Dec. from 33.3c y/y. Property revenue rose more than 17% to R16.2m from R13.8m. The company's operating profit before capital items declined by 2.4% to R13.8m. Property expenses increased by 20% to R2.2m, largely from the introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standard. This increased property expenses by R877 000, while administration expenses rose 19.6% to R1.6m. The directors decided not to declare an interim dividend becuase of the difficult economic conditions experienced during the half-year. The group's investment portfolio was valued at R204m by the directors at the end of Dec., which is 2.7% higher than the external valuation done in June. Maintenance costs would increase substantially for the 6 months to June, but there were signs that economic activity was again starting to increase as was evidence of the increase in output of the manufacturing sector.

MASONITE expects profit to fall by up to 20% for the year ending Dec., due to the impact of the strong rand and the global recession on sales and margins, the company said yesterday. EPS and HEPS were expected to decline by between 55% and 65% from the previous year due to an unfavourable fair value adjustment of assets. MASONITE said economic conditions during 2009 led to falling timber prices, affecting the value of standing timber.

IMUNITI HOLDINGS saw improving fortunes and the company's turnaround strategy was paying off after it yesterday said its attributable loss a share for the year to Feb. would be reduced significantly. It expected to improve losses by between 80% and 90% y/y. The turnaround strategy started two years ago and included shedding jobs, closing one of the offices, outsourcing some of the work, cutting salaries and reshuffling management roles. The company said it expected the headline loss per share to improve by as much as 10%. In the year to Feb. sales declined by 12% to R60.5m, while the company's impairments amounted to R44.8m. In the early years of its presence on the AltX, IMUNITI's dismal performance was attributed to its over-reliance on one product - the wellness pack, which is an immune booster. Poor sales of these packs not only hurt it financially but also soured the relationship between the founding shareholders and its empowerment partner. The matter landed in court and the BEE consortium was ordered to return the shares.

ABSA has decided to allow HIV+ clients to skip mortgage payments if they are taken ill. It says it has sourced insurance to cover mortgage instalments for lower-income customers unable to work due to Aids-related diseases as part of its 110% MyHome home loan offering. The product will now also be available to households earning less than R15 142/month, up from R11 000. HIV/Aids voluntary counselling, testing and treatment programmes and borrower education will be provided by the banks' external partners. It is not knows who the partners in the endeavour are.

ASTRAL FOODS yesterday said it has targeted more growth opportunities in Africa. ASTRAL has Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe as focus areas within the southern African region. The group already has animal feed operations in Zambia and Mozambique, and chicken operations in Swaziland. ASTRAL spent R22m last year to establish a greenfield poultry operation in Zambia, and plans to make the country a regional hub for its operations outside SA. ASTRAL's continental expansion will be approached conservatively, due to "uncertainties" in those markets, along with infrastructural challenges and logistical difficulties. ASTRAL will during the second half of this year open a new state of the art bakery in the Western Cape - a R70m JV with US-based industrial bakers EAST BALT.