Shoprite increased merchandise sales in the six months to December by R9.2bn to R136.8bn as the grocery retailer continues to extend its market share gap.
In the past 12 months Shoprite — which also owns Checkers, Petshop Science and Sixty60 — opened 273 stores and created 1,711 jobs. The group recorded 572-million visits across all its brands, up 5.6%. It sold 4.1-billion products during the six months to December.
“This performance was delivered during a period of very low internal selling price inflation, averaging 0.7% for the half year,” CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said.
He said the company is growing at 2.3 times ahead of the rest of the market.
“We have gained market share for six years, uninterrupted, every single month.”
The SA supermarket operations, which contribute 84% of group sales, grew merchandise sales by 7.1% to R115.3bn, led by Shoprite and Usave. Within Supermarkets RSA, the Sixty60 on-demand digital platform continues to drive sales growth and customer adoption, recording sales growth of 34.6% to R11.9bn. Sixty60 contributes 10% to total SA supermarket sales.
While small in the context of total Group contribution, Shoprite’s other businesses — including clothing subsidiary Uniq, baby brand Little Me, Checkers Outdoor and Petshop Science — increased sales by 70.9%.
In South Africa Shoprite has 2,747 stores, with plans to open more before the end of the year.
Outside South Africa, Engelbrecht said the operations delivered 12.1% sales growth. “However, constant currency sales growth measured 9.5%. From a profitability perspective this segment’s performance remains challenging, notably impacted in this period by adverse conditions in Mozambique.”
Shoprite operates in seven countries outside SA where it has 272 stores. Shoprite will spend R7.5bn on new stores, existing store refurbishments, maintenance and technology projects.
TimesLIVE
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