Latest news with #R1.01
The Citizen
01-08-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Newcastle steel plant faces shutdown as AMSA rescue plan stalls
The closure of ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) is again on the cards with the announcement that efforts to secure a sustainable rescue plan for its long steel plants in Newcastle and Vereenigning have come to nought. The steel giant announced its decision to close its loss-making long steel operations at the end of September. First announced in November 2023, the closure—initially deferred twice to allow for negotiations—could result in the loss of 3,500 direct jobs. 'In the absence of a sustainable solution, the final wind-down of the longs business remains scheduled for September 30,' AMSA said in a statement. The decision comes as the company reported a headline loss of R1.01 billion for the six months to June, slightly down from the R1.1 Billion loss in the same period last year. Revenue fell by 17% to R17-billion, with sales volumes down 11% to 1.05-million metric tons due to weak demand in South Africa's key steel-consuming sectors. Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau told Parliament on July 4 that the government was in 'freighting mode' to prevent the plant closures. AMSA says its long steel operations have been crippled by high electricity tariffs, unreliable freight logistics, shrinking domestic demand, and rising competition from both local scrap-based mini-mills and cheap imports from China. The long steel division supplies essential materials including rail, road and bar products, to the construction, mining, manufacturing, and automotive sectors. Fears are that the closure is expected to hit the local economy hard, with nearly 3 500 direct jobs at risk. Local suppliers, subcontractors, transport companies, and service providers are also bracing for knock-on effects, with estimates suggesting that up to 10 000 indirect jobs may be impacted in the broader Northern KZN area. Small businesses in the hospitality, retail, and accommodation sectors—many of which rely on AMSA employees and industrial activity—are likely to see significant revenue losses. The Newcastle plant has been a key economic anchor for decades, supplying structural steel to major sectors including construction, mining, manufacturing, and automotive. Several unions have called for urgent intervention and retraining opportunities, while municipal leaders fear the closure could lead to increased unemployment, migration, and strain on social services. The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area. Please follow us on Youtube and feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. For more local news, visit our webpage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and request an add on our WhatsApp (082 874 5550).
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ADvTECH Limited (JSE:ADH) Pays A R00.63 Dividend In Just Three Days
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see ADvTECH Limited (JSE:ADH) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves at least two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase ADvTECH's shares before the 9th of April in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 14th of April. The company's next dividend payment will be R00.63 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of R1.01 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, ADvTECH stock has a trailing yield of around 3.3% on the current share price of R030.62. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. ADvTECH paid out more than half (50%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out 92% of its free cash flow in the form of dividends last year, which is outside the comfort zone for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want to look more closely here. While ADvTECH's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were ADvTECH to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign. See our latest analysis for ADvTECH Click here to see how much of its profit ADvTECH paid out over the last 12 months. Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see ADvTECH's earnings per share have risen 18% per annum over the last five years. Earnings have been growing at a decent rate, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year. Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, ADvTECH has increased its dividend at approximately 15% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see. From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid ADvTECH? Earnings per share growth is a positive, and the company's payout ratio looks normal. However, we note ADvTECH paid out a much higher percentage of its free cash flow, which makes us uncomfortable. It might be worth researching if the company is reinvesting in growth projects that could grow earnings and dividends in the future, but for now we're not all that optimistic on its dividend prospects. Keen to explore more data on ADvTECH's financial performance? Check out our visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth. A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
