Shoprite's annual revenue exceeds R250 billion, creating thousands of jobs

Shoprite Holdings’ annual sales surpassed R250 billion for the first time and it created 8 723 jobs after opening a net 281 stores in the year to June 29.

South Africa’s biggest grocery store group, with 2 863 corporate-owned and managed stores, said Tuesday that revenue increased by 8.6% to R256.7bn for the year. Group merchandise sales increased by 8.9% to R252.7bn.

Trading profit from continuing operations increased by 16.6% to R15bn. Customer visits increased by 4.4%, and average basket spend increased by 4.8%.

The core division, Supermarkets RSA’s merchandise sales increased by 9.5% to R213.5 bn. Diluted headline earnings per share (DHEPS) increased by 15.8% to 1,367.2 cents. The full-year dividend increased by 9.7% to 781 cents.

Gryphon Asset Management portfolio manager Kasparus Treurnicht said Shoprite had again outperformed the other large retailers in South Africa in terms of growth. However, of interest, it had not managed to surpass the growth rates of Woolworths Holdings' Foods division, he said.

He said the fact that Shoprite had managed to keep sell inflation at below 2% was “very good” and indicated that Shoprite remained internally focused, working hard on extracting efficiencies and “running a tight ship when it comes to costs.”

Shoprite’s share price gained a sturdy 4.83% to R270.67 on the JSE Tuesday afternoon, slightly below the R295.00 it traded at a year ago, but a steady march upwards from the R143.15 that it traded at five years ago.

“In rand terms, just our growth in sales this year equated to R20.6bn. We prioritised customers, and in our core Supermarkets RSA segment gave back R16.5bn at point of sale, whilst remaining steadfast on containing our selling price inflation at 2.3%,” said group CEO Pieter Engelbrecht on the group website.

He said they not only created thousands of jobs but had also innovated – not only on the digital and quick commerce front, but also where, as a result, millions of households could eat better and transact for less.

In the Supermarkets RSA segment, Shoprite and Usave’s turnover increased by 5.9%, equating to sales growth of R6.5bn from a base of R110.1bn.

“Our customers remain pressured on a number of fronts, and disposable incomes are stretched. It is for this reason the teams pulled together to keep sell inflation at Shoprite below 2%. Promotional participation was higher than in 2024, but to compensate, Shoprite doubled down on operational disciplines and managed to improve gross margins year-on-year,” said Engelbrecht.

Checkers continued to gain share, evidenced by sales growth of 13.8%, contributing an additional R11.6bn, taking it to an almost R100bn brand in its own right.

“We opened 68 stores, inclusive of 36 LiquorShop stores. With 350 supermarkets (including 40 Checkers Hypers), we remain of the view that Checkers...remains underrepresented in the South African market,” said Engelbrecht.

On-demand ecommerce platform, Sixty60’s sales increased by 47.7%, equating to R18.9bn this year. Success included its 94.0% on-time deliveries and 96.8% order fulfilment.

The group continued to reduce exposure to markets where its operations were sub-scale, and capital could be better allocated to regions and operations where their expertise generated higher growth and superior returns.

Regarding the sale of the furniture business to Pepkor, he said they were seeking transaction approval from the Competition Tribunal “as soon as possible,” because the group was having to enter a second year of operating a profitable furniture business, which had been classified as discontinued.

“Following the Competition Tribunal granting a competitor intervention rights at a late stage in the merger proceedings, subsequent to the Competition Commission recommending the transaction for approval, we are entering into a second year,” he said.

As a discontinued operation, the furniture business was excluded from the group’s profitability, while the group had still not received the sale transaction proceeds.

“Delays of this nature are unproductive for these businesses and our employees in them,” said Engelbrecht.

The new Checkers transactional website was launched this year, making its full range available for customers to find, purchase, and have delivered within one hour through online search. In addition, Sixty60 was re-platformed, whilst adding general merchandise delivery from the Checkers Hypers to the on-demand offer.

“These substantial steps build on the strong foundation we have established,” he said.

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