Company News in Brief
MultiChoice to close Showmax streaming service
MultiChoice will soon shut down its Showmax on-demand video streaming service as part of the group’s effort to rein in costs and cut lossmaking units, having spent more than R3bn on the project.
The future of Showmax — first launched in 2015 — had been in question since French broadcaster Canal+ took over Africa’s largest paid TV provider in September. The group says it can no longer carry the heavy investment associated with Showmax.
“This decision was made by the Showmax board of directors and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice on financial discipline and investment optimisation, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
“The substantial annual losses experienced by the Showmax business have proved unsustainable. The decision to phase out Showmax reflects our focus on building a sustainable, competitive business for the long term in an increasingly demanding global streaming environment."
-Business Day
FirstRand eyes Ghana, Nigeria growth as lender seeks scale
FirstRand is exploring opportunities in southern and western Africa as the continent’s biggest bank by market value looks to grow its contribution to earnings.
The Johannesburg-based firm is considering expanding its operations in Ghana and Nigeria as it seeks to become a top-three lender in the two key West African markets.
“From a macroeconomic point of view, Ghana and Nigeria are actually going through a much better period than they’ve had in the past because of the structural reforms they embarked upon, so we are looking very constructively at growing in those markets,” FirstRand Chief Executive Officer Mary Vilakazi said in an interview with Bloomberg.
The bank is also mulling ways to grow its business in Zambia to cement its No. 1 ranking in the southern Africa nation. FirstRand acquired Standard Chartered Plc’s wealth and retail-banking business in the country last year.
“It’s actually one of the standout performers” in the second half of 2025, Vilakazi said. “The ability to get further load and scale in that business is the kind of thing that we would like to see more of.”
Its expansion plan comes as peers in South Africa look to grow their operations on the continent.
-Bloomberg
Woolworths delivers positive sales but profit margins under pressure
Woolworths Holdings says its gross profit margins in the six months to 28 December 2025 remained under pressure, despite a concerted effort to improve performance.
It highlights in the release of its latest results on Wednesday that increased promotions to clear excess inventory, long-term capacity investment, and targeted price investment are among a combination of factors that squeezed profit before tax to about R2 billion, a reduction of 23%.
But pressure on margins wasn’t enough to dampen overall performance, with group reporting a 5.4% increase in turnover and concession sales.
Earlier this year, the group’s management had warned shareholders of an expected decline in earnings for the period under review, primarily driven by a significant base effect from the prior year.
At the time, management expected total earnings per share (EPS) to drop by as much as 35%. However, in its results release on Wednesday the decline in EPS came slight better at 32.1%, which is the equivalent of 166.6 cents per share.
“The group’s results for the first half of the 2026 financial year reflect the ongoing progress in our various strategic initiatives, with improving performance in our apparel businesses and continued above-market growth in our leading food business,” says Woolworths group CEO Roy Bagattini.
-Moneyweb
