S&V Weekly Newsletter Vol.8 No.22, May 30 2022

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Fraud

Fake websites: 'Consumers helpless if Google won't police this problem'

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Intobrands' Paul Hancock is fighting what seems to be a one-man and uphill battle against fake websites purportedly offering the brands his company represents - Fitflops, UGG and Hunter Boots.
      The sites - which all have .co.za domains - accept orders and payments, then don't deliver.
      To make matters worse, they appear as the first options on Google searches.
      "I frequently get complaints from consumers who say they have been scammed, and there seems to be no way of preventing these fraudsters from setting up these sites," he said.
      He has approached his principals to assist shutting them down, and he has also approached various banks asking for their assistance to refund payments to consumers.
      In a response to his requests, Judith Tonkin, who is the legal counsel for FitFlop in the UK, wrote: "In order to close down infringing websites, we have to send a complaint to the registrar hosting the content and they close it down. Fairly often the owner of the website realises and moves the content to another registrar and we start the complaint with the new registrar again. Eventually the owner of the infringing content gives up. It can take time if the any of the registrars involved are unhelpful or uncooperative or if the owner is resilient to the inconvenience of the closures. Rest assured the company who deal with this issue on our behalf continue to monitor all reported sites, follow them and endeavour to close them down many times until they finally give up."
      Hunter Boot in the UK has also taken steps to close down the fake SA site. Roope Karmavuo sent Hancock the following update:
      “This is the action we have taken so far to get the SA site removed:
      "We conducted a test purchase and reported with the data of the purchase to the Payment Provider (Mastercard) to block the payment system on the website. Mastercard asked for additional information which we provided, now we are awaiting their response. (They do take time to take action)
      "As an additional measure, we have already reported the website to Google for delisting from search result. However, Google has not been responsive, and this non-responsiveness is not limited to Hunter Boot-related complaints, but a trend we have seen for several other clients. We have escalated this internally for further escalation with Google.
      "Lastly, we have also reported to the safe browsing report - https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/evergreen-assets/safelinks/1/atp-safelinks.html - this adds a warning page on the website regarding its phishing nature to warn the users who try to access it. (No way of making sure if it works 100%).
      "If this all fails, the last option left is to undertake the UDRP procedure.
      "Unfortunately, it can sometimes be a lengthy process to remove sites, but hopefully you can see that this is a priority of ours as it really impacts the customer experience.”
      "The real problem seems to be Google," Hancock said. "They don't seem to police this problem."
      Nor does there seem to be a foolproof way for consumers to know which sites are fake.

Stock Exchange News Service (SENS)

Pepkor interim results March 2022

'Strong growth, even better forecast, 300 new stores on track'

To read the original release, go here
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA (Fri 27 May 2022, 7:27) – Revenue for the interim period increased by 3.3% to R42.0 billion (2021: R40.7 billion), gross profit rose 6.3% to R14.8 billion (2021: R13.9 billion) and operating profit climbed 17.6% to R5.6 billion (2021: R4.8 billion). Profit attributable to owners of the parent jumped 27.6% to R3.3 billion (2021: R2.6 billion). Furthermore, headline earnings per share increased to 91.5 cents per share (2021: 71.3 cents per share).

Dividend In line with Pepkor’s dividend policy, no dividend was declared for the interim period.

Company outlook The group is very pleased with the solid performance for the first half of the 2022 financial year, based on a stronger second quarter and even more so when considering performance on a 2-year basis, which eliminates volatility caused by COVID-19.
      The operating environment remains very challenging as unemployment levels and the cost of living continue to increase. The extension of the monthly R350 COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to March 2023, as announced in the recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) by the President, will provide much needed relief for many consumers in South Africa who need to survive on a very small budget. The increased momentum in events and industries such as tourism is very encouraging and should alleviate some of the pressure consumers face.
      Higher levels of price inflation are expected for the next summer season starting in August 2022. While challenging, this operating environment motivates operations teams to develop innovative new ways to ensure that products remain affordable for consumers – thereby redefining and solidifying the group’s position in the South African discount and value sectors.
      Supply chain disruption and uncertainty have continued. The group’s merchandise teams have done exceptionally well to mitigate the impact of disruption on merchandise inflows and in-store availability. While global supply chain uncertainties persist, it seems that shipping costs have stabilised and may trend downwards.
      Stronger trading is expected during the second half of the year, supported by the lower base in the comparable period, which was affected by the civil unrest. Trading in April 2022 was strong across most businesses, with softer trading in May 2022.
      The growth mindset embedded within the group’s culture and management continues to drive performance. In line with our strategy, plans to open more than 300 stores in the 2022 financial year remain on track.

Results webcast A live webcast of the results presentation will be broadcast at 10:00 a.m. (SAST) on Friday, 27 May 2022.

Mr Price - trading statement

Jump in earnings for shareholders predicted

To read the original release, go here
Durban, KZN, SA (Thu 26 May 2022, 7:22) – The group is presently finalising its annual financial results for the 12 months ended 02 April 2022. These will be announced on the JSE SENS on Thursday 09 June 2022. Shareholders are advised that basic earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be between 24% and 29% higher than the period 29 March 2020 to 03 April 2021 (Corresponding Period) and between 30% and 35% higher on a comparable 52- week basis (Corresponding Period constituted 53-weeks). Included in the table below is the comparison on both a 53-week and 52-week basis.

The group advises that it expects the annual results for the Period to fall within the following ranges:
Annual results presentation - 52 weeks on 53 weeks
*Basic earnings per share: 1269.2c to 1320.4c; 24.0% to 29.0%
*Headline earnings per share: 1249.4 to 1302.8; 17.0% to 22.0%

Expected annual - 52 weeks on 52 weeks
*Basic earnings per share: 1269.2c to 1320.4c; 30.0% to 35.0%
*Headline earnings per share: 1249.4c to 1302.8c; 23.0% to 28.0%

Annual results presentation A live webcast of the interim results presentation is scheduled for 09:00 am on Thursday, 9 June 2022. This can be accessed through the following link: https://www.corpcam.com/MrPrice09062022.

They Said It

"Didn't think you knew about the beer drinking, rock and roll lifestyle?" - Karl Flowers, SA-born leather scientist, now living in the UK, on a request that he send an article on Authenticae, a business he runs with his wife, Inge. Actually, it offers biodegradability testing for leather and other products. Brain box stuff.

"I think the rains had mercy on us this time around - had some water enter the premises, expected with the rains of this nature, but no damages." - Ravesh Kumar Barath, factory manager, Angel Footwear, Durban, KZN, SA, on the second set of floods in 2 weeks.

Got anything you'd like to share?

Do you have any suggestions, comments or experiences about the industry that you'd like to share with the industry? - tony@svmag.co.za

30/05/1940: Subramonia Balakrishnan, Malar Industries, Ndola, Zambia.
31/05/1951: James Stewart, Tokyo+Co, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
31/05/1959: Mike Ing, The Ing Thing, Howick, KZN, SA.
31/05/1963: Craig Davis, Spunlok, Pinetown, KZN, SA.
31/05/1972: Calay Grecia, Classic Components, Pinetown, KZN, SA.
01/06/1942: Chris Horne, The Little Slipper Company, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.
01/06/1947: Peter Howard, left the industry, formerly CPC, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.
02/06/1947: Anver Carrim, Colam Trading cc t/a Yankees, Rustenburg, N.W. Province, SA.
02/06/1975: Shaun Ganesh, Nikkita Footwear, Durban, KZN, SA.
02/06/1983: Jana van Vuuren, Maraschino Shoes, Pretoria, Gauteng, SA.
03/06/1958: Tom Bailey, ?, Bolton Footwear, Great Brak River, W. Cape, SA.
04/06/1946: Hamish Whyte, Welbourne Shoes, Robertson, W. Cape, SA.
04/06/1956: Romualdo Varela, left SA, formerly Zenda, Pretoria.
05/06/1929: Hannes Louw, retired, formerly KKI, Mossel Bay, W. Cape, SA.
05/06/1960: Tom Bassage, CC Leather, Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.

01/06/1992: Harry Gassert, formerly Panther Shoe Co [closed], Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
01/06/2021: Rajeev 'Rocky' Kumar (b. 03/08/1967), Vision Sports, Gaborone, Botswana.
03/06/2016: Joop de Voest (b. 21/01/1954), Marketing & Planning Consulting Services, De Rust, W. Cape, SA.
04/06/2002: Rex Phillipson (b. 13/4/1917), Picaninni Shoes [closed], Durban, KZN, SA.

Have you let us know about your birthday, or the birthdays of your colleagues? Our readers love this section, so please become part of it. This also applies to the In Memoriam section. Help us remember former colleagues.

Directory entries updated last week

National Adhesive Manufacturers, Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.
Colin Davies, Durban, KZN, SA.
Softer [Softwear (Pty) Ltd], Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
Randy's Agency, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.

3. Malawian Kwacha (MWK)

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4. Zambian Kwacha (ZMW)

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5. Zimbabwean Dollar (ZWL$)

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ABSA Agri Trends: Hides & skins prices

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (19 May 2022) - The current average hide price decreased by 1.1% to R4.11/kg from R4.16/kg a week ago. The current price is 26.0% lower than the average price a month ago and is 45.0% lower than the average price a year ago. The range of prices reported was as follows: Minimum price: R4.00 Maximum price: R5.00. Please note: Our methodology weighs the prices we collect according to the number of hides they sell in a month. This is done to make it more representative of the prevailing market price. NB* Hide prices are determined by the average of the RMAA (Red Meat Abattoir Association) and independent companies. - Marlene Louw, senior agricultural economist, and Nkhensani Mashimbyi, agricultural economist, Absa group.

Note: For previous prices, see HERE

Have a look at these links

We invite businesses to send us links to websites, Facebook pages and the like which they feel would be of interest to others. The links below are from our database:
Hi-Tec Sports Distributors, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA. Branded distributor.
Hides of Africa, Lion's River, KZN, SA. Leather goods retailer.

Classified Adverts

AGENTS WANTED

Willowton Footwear is looking for shoe  agents to represent our shoe company in all provinces of South Africa, excluding Eastern Cape. Kindly contact us by email at sales@willowton.com.

Contact us

News & Classifieds: Tony Dickson, +27 (0)31 209 7505, tony@svmag.co.za

Next newsletter: June 6, 2022.

SAFLIA enquiries: Tel 0800SAFLIA * Email info@saflia.co.za * Website http://www.saflia.co.za

Our website www.svmag.co.za