Stock spikes on R3bn Sassa contract
Net1 UEPS share price soars on the prospect of Cash Paymaster Services retaining its lucrative Sassa contract
The Net1 UEPS share price reached a 12-month high this week as it became evident its subsidiary, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), would hold on to the valuable social grant distribution business for at least a year. The share price, which moved to a high of R183 on Wednesday, hours after an MP referred to CPS as a "bunch of gangsters", was also boosted by the prospect that a new contract with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) could generate an annual fee of more than R3bn for CPS. The possibility that negotiations, which began on Wednesday, could see Sassa pay CPS as much as R25 per recipient per month, is bad news for taxpayers. But it is good news for Net1 shareholders, chief of whom is Allan Gray Limited. Although the Net1 website refers to Allan Gray holding a 17% stake and its associate Orbis Investment Management an additional 17.1%, on Thursday evening a spokesperson for Allan Gray informed Business Day that Orbis Investment Management held no shares in Net1. It ...
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