Latest news with #R9bn
TimesLIVE
10-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Omnia declares special dividend as mining business shores up profits
Chemicals company Omnia Holdings on Monday declared a special dividend for the second year running after its growing explosives business helped offset the impact of bad weather and economic turbulence on its African agriculture business. Omnia reported headline earnings per share — a key profit measure — of R7.04 in the year ended March 31, compared with R6.99 the previous year. The company, which supplies fertilisers and soil additives to countries in Africa and abroad, also manufactures explosives used in the mining industry. Omnia's mining division reported a 10% increase in revenue to R9bn, helping to offset a 2% revenue decline in the agriculture business, which was affected by challenging operating conditions in Africa. Currency volatility in Zimbabwe, logistical disruptions in Mozambique due to political unrest and the impact of a severe drought in Zambia had affected Omnia's income, CEO Seelan Gobalsamy said in an interview. However, increased demand for uranium, copper and other metals vital for the global shift to renewable energy are driving demand for mining consumables and boosting income for Omnia's explosives business. Omnia was seeing strong demand for mine explosives in Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, while its Indonesian joint venture also continues to grow, Gobalsamy said. 'Our mining profits are now higher than our agriculture profit,' Gobalsamy said. 'We all know Omnia for fertiliser, but mining is now bigger than our agriculture business.' Omnia declared an ordinary dividend of R4 per share and a special dividend of R2.75 per share, returning R1.1bn to shareholders. Last year the company paid out a special dividend of R3.25 per share.
TimesLIVE
24-04-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
IEJ welcomes government's decision to reverse 'regressive' VAT hike
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) has welcomed the decision to reverse the VAT hike, which it says is a regressive tax that would have disproportionately harmed the poor, low-income workers and the struggling middle class. 'We caution that this reversal should not open the door for budget cuts as appears to be the National Treasury's preference.' It said while begrudgingly conceding on the issue of the VAT hike, the National Treasury and finance minister Enoch Godongwana appeared to double down on their ideological rejection of progressive revenue alternatives. 'This flies in the face of evidence presented in parliament by the IEJ and other civil society organisations, as well as by political parties, which show that many alternatives are readily available.' The IEJ said the 0.5 percentage point VAT increase, at best, would have secured R13.5bn in revenue, which was a tiny 0.5% of the national budget. 'It has recently emerged that the revenue overrun collected by Sars (of about R9bn) alone, without further revenue or budget cuts, largely fills this hole. 'It also highlights the failure by the National Treasury to find innovative ways to raise revenue that can immediately unlock resources to further finance essential services and expand public investment,' the IEJ said. The organisation said there were a number of immediate sources of revenue. These included: ● Tapping into the Gold and Foreign Exchange Reserve Account (GFECRA), which still has over R300bn available to the government; ● Removing tax breaks for high-income earners (those earning above R1m per year), such as those linked to pensions or medical aid contributions. The government spent about R51bn on these in 2022/23; and ● Raising the corporate income tax rate back to 28%, as the previous reduction to 27% failed to attract investment. This would have raised an extra R12bn in 2024/25. The IEJ said that over the medium term, other measures, including a wealth tax, social security tax, and financial transactions tax, are available that could generate significant revenue and reduce inequality.
