Latest news with #Ganda
TimesLIVE
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Zeda records lower revenue as corporate customers delay investment
Car rental group Zeda, which operates the Avis and Budget businesses, reported lower revenue for the half year to March as the challenging trading environment forced corporate customers to delay investment decisions, including fleet replacement and holding onto vehicles for longer. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) also came under similar strain, particularly in the mining and transport sectors. Revenue was down 1.6% to R5.2bn. The leasing business segment delivered a solid performance, with revenue increasing by 5.6% to R1.4bn, underpinned by increased penetration within the corporate, heavy commercial fleet and the rest of Africa businesses. The leasing business maintained its growth trajectory, despite the overall delayed fleet investments, Zeda said. It said the upward trajectory of additional revenue was affected by corporate customers delaying replacement cycles and some constraints from SMEs with contracts in the mining and transport sectors in South Africa. Heavy commercial remains a steady growth pillar for Zeda, with a healthy order book. The car rental segment's revenue decreased by 4% to R3.8bn due to a drop in used car volumes. However, excluding the car sales business, rental revenue remained flat. 'We were able to defend the revenue levels despite a decline in the replacement and inbound business. Rental days increased by 2.5%, primarily driven by a 49% rise in the short-term subscription business, following an improvement in technology that made transactions easier for customers,' said Zeda. Zeda has on average more than 20,000 vehicles in its fleet in Southern Africa. Its customer segment base is diversified and consists of the private sector, public sector, insurance business (replacement), inbound market, domestic leisure market and short-term subscription. This business provides a range of self-drive and driven products and services, including car and van rental, chauffeur services and luxury vehicle services. 'In a period where traditional car rental and vehicle sales faced mounting pressure, our leasing, subscription and greater Africa strategies delivered, helping grow earnings, improve margins and continue investing for the long term. 'We achieved this through a stringent implementation of the operating model of financing right, buying right, using right and disposing right,' said Zeda CEO Ramasela Ganda. Zeda anticipates improved performance in the second half of its 2025 financial year, driven by stronger car sales, contract renewals and subscription momentum. Ganda said the bedrock of Zeda's growth pillars consists of the subscription business, the corporate leasing book, greater Africa, and the used car business. 'These pillars provide us with access to vehicles, markets and a disposal channel, which are core to our fundamentals, which remain strong despite the challenging trading environment.'
Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The £100,000 silver rhino inspired by Dürer
With their fierce horns and tough hides, rhinos have a reputation for being nature's tanks. If that wasn't intimidating enough, now along comes one in silver. A new project from Asprey Studios and the British Museum is reimagining in precious metal the rhinoceros drawn in 1515 by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the German painter and printmaker who is known as one of the Renaissance's greatest artists. The image, executed as a woodcut, spread widely through Europe, shaping how people thought the rhinoceros looked at a time when most people on the Continent had never seen the animal. That included Dürer. Despite its popularity, Dürer's rhino is inaccurate — showing armour-like anatomy that the real animal lacks. Dürer based his creation on written descriptions of the first rhino seen in Europe since ancient Rome — Ganda, who had been gifted to King Manuel I of Portugal by Sultan Muzaffar Shah II of Gujarat in India. The rhino's arrival in Lisbon prompted great excitement, with reports of it quickly reaching the furthest corners of the Continent. One such report, written by a merchant and circulated as a newsletter, reached Dürer in Nuremberg. Asprey Studio, established in 2021, is a digital and contemporary art gallery, design workshop and members' club that explores the convergence of physical craftsmanship and cutting-edge digital media. Unlike a traditional member's club, Asprey Studio's offering is not tied to a physical space. Instead, special gatherings are held at the Asprey Studio gallery in Mayfair and other global locations. Members enjoy a range of benefits, including early access to events and collections, VIP previews and tours, and the ability to showcase their art collections on a dedicated member gallery wall. As a bold new venture from (but separate to) Asprey — the 244-year-old British luxury jewellery house known for supplying everyone from Queen Victoria to Angelina Jolie — Asprey Studio carries forward a legacy of artisanal excellence while charting new territory in art and design through innovative technology. Dürer's rhinoceros is a case in point. Asprey Studio's master silversmiths have transformed the virtuoso two-dimensional drawing by Dürer into a set of 11 three-dimensional sculptures. They first consulted Dürer's original preparatory sketch in the British Museum. 'Dürer's Rhinoceros is a famous image that has been a part of the cultural imagination for centuries and has inspired countless versions, copies and adaptations,' explains Dr Olenka Horbatsch, the museum's curator of Dutch, Flemish and German prints and drawings. 'Dürer's Rhinoceros is one of the most iconic drawings and woodcuts in European art history. His artistic mastery remains unmatched,' adds Alastair Walker, the chief creative officer of Asprey Studio. 'We have added Asprey Studio's dimension to it, one that we hope inspires people too.' Each 40cm-long sculpture is made up of 90 individually crafted pieces of silver — and each of those pieces is worked using a variety of tech-forward techniques. 'We have used digital sculpting to replace traditional clay so several sculptors can work on it and work out how it will come together in production,' Walker explains. The number of pieces involved in each sculpture is unusual for a product made from silver. The piece's complex composition was one of the drivers behind the methods used. 'Each piece is precision arc-welded and meticulously hammered using classic anticlastic raising techniques [hammering metal over curved stakes in a way that causes the metal to curve in two opposite directions] with intricate hand engraving.' Asprey Studio's particular work combines digital innovation with longstanding technical know-how, with 'the finishing techniques that have been handed down from years of experience, that only Asprey Studio's silversmiths have mastered,' Walker says. The complex nature of the design and production meant that the first sculpture took eight months to produce in the Asprey Studio workshop in Kent. This sculpture has already sold for £300,000. Production of that sculpture allowed the silversmiths to learn what worked and what didn't — meaning that production time for subsequent sculptures has reduced to between three to six months. Of the remaining ten sculptures, only four will be available to purchase, each priced at £100,0000, the other six having already been snapped up by private collectors. The fate of Dürer's living inspiration was less sparkling. Set to fight an elephant by King Manuel — the 'armour' in which the rhino was clad for this spectacle may have been what confused Dürer's depiction — Ganda was subsequently packed of to Rome as a gift for Pope Leo X, although the boat sank and Ganda drowned on the way. To inquire about the sculptures, email info@
