MONDI will enter the JSE blue chip Top-40 on friday, replacing TELKOM. TELKOM will be demoted to the mid cap stocks, having lost a major part of its valuation after selling and spinning off its stake in VODACOM GROUP. MONDI appears to be moving out of the slump after forecasting an improvement in volumes and said cost cuts had left it poised to perform well in the year ahead.

ADCOCK INGRAM HOLDINGS will sell a 13% stake in the company to black investor groups by the end of April. ADCOCK will issue shares to two different classes of investors within the structure it has chosen for the R1.32bn stake sale. About 19.5m shares will be sold to five "strategic investors" identified by ADCOCK, and 6.5m shares will be issued to ADCOCK employees who qualify to participate in the empowerment transaction. The deal will cost ADCOCK ordinary shareholders R350m.

PALLINGHURST's platinum company PLATMIN is increasing its platinum group metals output to expectation, according to CEO ARNE FRANDSEN. PLATMIN in Jan. said the reaching of full capacity of 250 000 PGM oz a year would be delayed by 12 months until early 2011. PALLINGHURST was also consolidating its manganese and iron-ore interests to create a "South African-Australian approach" to growth participation. The company recorded a $62.4m net profit in the year to Dec. compared with a $46.4m loss in 2008. A bankable feasibility study of Magazynskraal platinum prospect had begun and the Tshipi feasibility study had revealed and inferred and indicated resource of 163.2m tons of manganese ore at an average grade of 37% in the Kalahari Basin. The strategy was to build PALLINGHURST's portfolio of PGM investments into a significant PGM platform through the acquisition and consolidation of low-cost operations.

A veil of secrecy has been drawn over negotiations about the possible reclassification of companies, which could have far-reaching results of the JSE and asset managers. On Monday JSE CE RUSSELL LOUBSER told the annual congress of the Association of Savings and Investment that, should reclassification take place, foreign companies would not list their shares in SA. This could render the JSE irrelevant as the seven SA companies with their primary listings offshore would themselves become less accessible to SA investors. These companies include ANGLO AMERICAN, BHP BILLITON, SABMILLER, OLD MUTUAL, INVESTEC, DIMENSION DATA and RICHEMONT. Reclassification would further place them in an unfavourable light because their shares would not be included in SA indices. The talks on reclassification come in the wake of an investigation by the London School of Economics which discusses the Reserve Bank, National Treasury and other interested parties. The reclassification is also being considered as a way to modernise exchange control.

COAL OF AFRICA today reported a headline loss per share of 4.48 Australian cents for the half year ended Dec. 2009 from a loss of 0.32c y/y. It reported an after tax loss of Aus$35.183m compared with a loss of Aus$1.294m a year ago, which included an impairment to the Holfontein thermal coal project of Aus$8.693m. Other financial investments were impaired by Aus$5.223m primarily attributable to the Aus$5m revaluation of the company's Zimbabwean investment. The depreciation charge was Aus$6.918m. Foreign exchange losses totalled Aus$3.615m. The cash balance at the end of Dec. was Aus$94.042m.

HOSKEN CONSOLIDATED INVESTMENTS Ltd plans to sell its 35% stake in CLOVER INDUSTRIES Ltd for R337.4m, it said yesterday. HCI will sell the stake back to CLOVER. HCI's only investment in CLOVER would be R110m in preference shares, whose rights are limited to a fixed dividend and CLOVER has agreed to buy them back at a fixed date in three years time. Meanwhile MANIE ROODE, deputy CEO of CLOVER said the company would consider listing, and was busy with plans to list its preference shares and will also list ordinary shares once approval is obtained from shareholders.

GRINAKER-LTA categorically rejects claims that North Korean workers have been involved in the construction of the Soccer City stadium. Speculation arising from various reports out of North and South Korea yesterday, are incorrect. Soccer City Project Director MIKE MOODY said 98% of workers that played a role in the construction of Soccer City were South Africans. In instances where skills were not readily available, international workers were employed through partnerships with INTERBETON of the Netherlands and CIMOLAI SPA of Italy.

ASTRAL FOODS is SA's second-largest chicken producer and supplies MCDONALDS and KFC with hamburger buns - but no chicken. The group supplies buns, English muffins, kaiser rolls and other sandwich carriers to fast-food outlets through EAST BALT. ASTRAL's new bakery in Cape Town would employ at least 120 people, and double that if the plant ran at full capacity. The bakery would be ready to operate at the end of July and CEO CHRIS SCHUTTE remained hopeful that at some stage the group would be able to put its "own chicken in the bun". In the past few months ASTRAL has seen an increase in demand for smaller packaging and have had to adapt to that. "They still want the bird but in a smaller portion", SCHUTTE said. The poultry business is benefiting from lower input costs.

Tough trading conditions in personnel outsourcing would prevail for at least another 18 months, PRIMESERV warned yesterday. While SA's economy might have passed the worst of the economic downturn, CEO MERRICK ABEL said re-employment tended to lag recovery by 6-12 months. Operating profit for PRIMESERV's core outsourcing division fell by 31% to R19.2m due to extensive retrenchment by heavy construction projects and mining businesses. The division experienced a great deal of margin pressure in the period due in part to the acquisition of DENVERDRAFT. PRIMESERV noted the recent "speculation and debate" about a legislative crackdown on labour broking, and said it would welcome new regulation if it comes along. PRIMESERV managed to increase its cash holdings by 70% to R27.8m, while reducing gearing from 29%-3%.

A recent study by SYNOVATE found that half of South Africans aged 16 and older would be prepared to buy a TELKOM SIM card. The research found that 68% of those interviewed felt there was sufficient space for another mobile operator to enter the market, 71% believed TELKOM had the infrastructure, and 68% believed it had sufficient sales and distribution channels to sell its products. 77% of respondents said TELKOM's offering would have to be unique for them to consider it. TELKOM has indicated that it plans to move into the mobile market as part of its renewed business strategy. It's entry into the mobile market would bring it into a sector with an annual revenue of R60bn, dominated by MTN and VODACOM. TELKOM yesterday would not reveal when it planned to launch its mobile service, which was initially expected to have taken place in Feb.