By Sfundo Parakozov
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South African grocery group Pick n Pay on Tuesday reported a 4.3% increase in group turnover, buoyed mainly by strong growth in its discounter business Boxer, which it spun out and listed last year.
Like-for-like sales, which exclude the impact of store openings, closures, conversions, or acquisitions, rose 3.8% during the period, the group said in a trading statement for the 17 weeks ended June 29.
Boxer, majority-owned by Pick n Pay, was listed separately on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2024 and competes with Shoprite’s Usave and SPAR’s SaveMor in smaller towns, townships, and rural areas.
The discounter reported a 12.1% increase in turnover, with like-for-like sales rising 3.9%.
“The Group views this as a creditable performance in the context of a highly constrained consumer and continued subdued food price inflation,” Pick n Pay said.
Its subsidiary Pick n Pay South Africa recorded 3.6% growth in like-for-like sales, despite planned store closures and conversions under its Store Estate Reset Plan.
It said it was making progress with its store reset and business restructuring plans, which are aimed at helping its core supermarket business break even in the medium term.
At its annual results presentation in May the group said a trading loss in the Pick n Pay business narrowed by 1 billion rand to 549 million rand and that it anticipated the business to break even by 2028.
On Tuesday, the company’s shares were 3% higher at 1314 GMT.
Pick n Pay, the second-largest grocery retailer in southern Africa by turnover, also announced the appointment of Grant Pattison as an independent non-executive director designate. Pattison, a former CEO of Edcon and Massmart Holdings, will join the board in 2026 after completing his current commitments.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov, Editing by Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman)
