Shoprite Holdings Ltd. full-year profit rose 17 percent, beating analyst estimates, as South Africa’s largest food retailer benefited from sales growth outside of its home market.
Headline earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, was 9 rand a share in the 12 months through June, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. The average of 13 analyst estimates was for 8.66 rand. The board declared a final dividend of 2.96 rand a share, bringing the year’s total payout to 4.52 rand, a rise of 17 percent.
“We are delighted with the overall results we have achieved on the back of a record one billion transactions in a single year, but especially with those from beyond South Africa’s borders,” Chief Executive Officer Whitey Basson said in an e-mailed statement. “We see the rest of the African continent as the source of much of our future growth.”
Shoprite and Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. are among South African retailers that have reported increasing sales this year, even as slowing economic growth and rising food inflation weakens domestic consumer confidence. Shoprite generated 17 percent of trading profit from supermarkets outside of South Africa in the year through June and has stores in 15 African countries.
Trading conditions in the retailer’s home market will probably remain tough, the company said, with economic growth seen at zero percent this year.
Shoprite shares have gained 39 percent this year, the best performing non-mining company on the FTSE/JSE Africa Top 40 Index.
The company was reporting a 53-week period, compared to a 52-week timeframe the previous year.
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