Shoprite has reported full-year sales growth of 9.3% in its core South African business, despite the prolonged closure of its LiquorShop business due to COVID restrictions.
The Supermarkets RSA arm reported R133.9 billion (€7.88 billion) in sales in the year to 4 July, which the group said was thanks to a 'combined effort' from its Shoprite and Usave businesses, which saw sales increase 8.8% and its Checkers and Checkers Hyper businesses, where sales grew 10.9%.
Its LiquorShop business was closed for 144 days of the financial year, as a result of coronavirus measures, it noted.
"This growth is a testament to our loyal customers and the relentless commitment of our team who ensured we delivered unsurpassed value, either in-store or digitally, throughout the year," commented Pieter Engelbrecht, Shoprite chief executive.
Outside South Africa
Outside South Africa, the group sold its Nigerian supermarket business, closed its operations in Kenya (three stores), and classified its operations in Uganda (five stores) and Madagascar (10 stores) as discontinued, as part of a streamlining operation.
"The region remains challenging, but our capital allocation review coupled with various in-country initiatives have resulted in improved profitability," Engelbrecht added.
Elsewhere, Shoprite's furniture arm saw sales increase by 24.6% over the full year, while its 'other' operating segment, which includes Checkers Food Services and Computicket, reported 10% sales growth.
Overall, the group increased its sales by 8.1% to R168 billion, while trading profit was up 24.9% to R10.3 billion.
The business recently announced the launch of ShopriteX, a digital technology hub, which has given rise to the Xtra Savings Rewards loyalty programme and Checkers Sixty60, Checkers' 60-minute grocer delivery service.
"Consumer response on both counts has been unrivalled, with the Xtra Savings Rewards Programme signing up over 20 million members and Checkers Sixty60 becoming the number one grocery app in the country with over 1.5 million app downloads," said Engelbrecht.
Civil Unrest
The civil unrest that in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in July took place one week after the group's financial year closed, and Engelbrecht hailed the efforts of those involved in rebuilding its operations and ensuring food supply to communities.
"We have started the process of rebuilding our KwaZulu-Natal and central Gauteng operations," he said. "Similarly, we have used our Usave mobile truck and container stores to sustain our customers in communities where there was literally no semblance of infrastructure left to salvage.
"As a company Shoprite can proudly reflect on the pivotal role it played in putting South Africa back together and we look ahead to a 2022 that ends vastly different to how it began."
In August Massmart announced that it had sold its non-core food assets to rival Shoprite Holdings in a deal worth 1.36 billion rand (€76 million).
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
