JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Telkom
(TKGJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said its chief financial officer would resign in
October, increasing concern about the troubled fixed-line
operator’s future and sending its shares tumbling more than 3
percent.

Telkom, whose chief executive, Ruben September, stepped down
earlier than planned last week, is struggling to craft a
convincing turnaround strategy, hit by higher costs and tough
competition at home, and hefty losses from its Nigerian business.

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) may bid for South Africa’s Nedbank (NEDJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), Sky News reported, a potential $4.4 billion deal that would give Europe’s largest bank a bigger profile in fast-growing Africa.

Buying a majority stake of South Africa’s fourth-largest bank would bulk up HSBC’s presence in Africa’s top economy and give it a wider platform for expansion on the growing continent.

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings
(HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) may bid for South Africa’s Nedbank (NEDJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), Sky News
reported, a potential $4.4 billion deal that would give Europe’s
largest bank a bigger profile in fast-growing Africa.

Buying a majority stake of South Africa’s fourth-largest
bank would bulk up HSBC’s presence in Africa’s top economy and
give it a wider platform for expansion on the growing continent.

JOHANNESBURG, July 1 (Reuters) – South African retailer
Pick’n Pay (PIKJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said it will sell its underperforming
Australian supermarket chain for about $183 million, sending its
shares up more than 3 percent.

Pick’n Pay said on Thursday it will sell its Franklins chain
of supermarkets to unlisted Metcash Trading for around 1.4
billion rand ($183 million).

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co plans to double its annual investment in Africa to $1 billion starting this year, to ramp up capacity on the fast-growing continent, the head of its South Africa unit told Reuters on Saturday.

“Over the past decade we’ve invested half a billion (U.S. dollars) every year across the continent … We’re doubling our investment,” William Egbe, the president of Coca-Cola’s South African unit, said on the sidelines of the Fortune Global Forum.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – China Mobile (0941.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s largest mobile-phone carrier, is looking for acquisitions in Africa but does not have any targets at the moment, its chief executive told Reuters on Saturday.

The company would be willing to take either a minority or majority stake in a local African operator, Wang Jianzhou said on the sidelines of the Fortune Global Forum in Cape Town.

JOHANNESBURG, June 21 (Reuters) – South African telephone
operator Telkom (TKGJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) posted little full-year profit on
Monday, in line with expectations, and its chief financial
officer said it would consider selling its struggling Nigerian
unit.

Africa’s largest fixed-line operator has been battered by
high operating costs at home and hefty losses from its Nigerian
business, Multi-Links, which has a tiny presence in a
competitive market.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Shares in MTN Group (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, rose over four percent on Thursday after the collapse of talks with Egypt’s Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA: Quote, Profile, Research) about a potential acquisition.

MTN and Orascom Telecom said in separate statements on Wednesday that talks had been called off, sinking a deal that could have created the world’s third-largest mobile operator.

JOHANNESBURG, June 4 (Reuters) – South African private
hospital group Life Healthcare priced its initial public
offering (IPO) at the bottom of its lowered range to raise $687
million as one of South Africa’s biggest IPOs on record got off
to a shaky start.

Demand for private healthcare in South Africa has increased
due to a fast-growing middle class and it is expected to grow
even more as the government is drafting a national insurance
scheme that largely depends on the sector.

JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (Reuters) – South African investment
bank Investec <INLJ.J> reported a 9 percent rise in full-year
operating profit as gains in its asset management business gave
proof its shift away from lending is starting to pay off.

South Africa’s fifth-largest bank, also listed in London
<INVP.L>, has been looking to cut its reliance on lending by
bolstering wealth and asset management. In March it said it
would buy the remaining shares of British fund manager Rensburg
Sheppards <RBG.L>, in which it already had a stake.