Star 2022-11-25

MR PRICE’S shares dropped by almost 8% yesterday after the retailer reported that its revenue growth was knocked by load shedding, social grants and the replacement of its Merchandise Enterprise Resource Planning system. In its results for the 26 weeks ended October 1, 2022, released yesterday, revenue was up 6.5% to R13.3 billion. The retailer said electricity load shedding caused 56% of trading days to be interrupted during the reporting period and estimates that more than 80 000 trading hours were lost. Retail sales grew 6% to R12.6bn. Group store sales were up 5.8% and online sales increased by 11.2%. Mr Price also said the inconsistent and non-payment of social grants during the period impacted its trading. “The replacement of the group’s Merchandise Enterprise Resource Planning system on…

OVER THE PAST five years, there has been a 39% improvement in gender diversity on JSE boards as “gender main-streaming at board level is a reality“, according to the JSE-listed boards report 2021, released yesterday. The report, which was compiled from Integrated Annual Reports for the reporting period January 1 to December 31, 2021, found that women were making substantial progress in being appointed to a majority of board positions. In 2021 women held 32% of board positions versus 68% of men on JSE-listed boards. This was a vast improvement from 2017, where only 23% of women held board positions versus men at 77%. “Companies are changing and gender main-streaming at board level is a reality. We always note that it is the business community at large that should decide…

Further rise by 75 basis points from 6.25% to 7% per year as a tool to arrest SA’s rate of inflation THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) has cancelled the Black Friday festivities by delivering a message no consumer wanted to hear, that the cost of borrowing has increased once again. The SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) yesterday decided to increase the repurchase rate (repo rate) further by 75 basis points from 6.25% to 7% per year. The SARB uses interest rates as a tool to tame rising consumer prices, and with headline inflation printing at 7.6% in October, a rate hike was inevitable. This means that the level of the repo rate – the rate at which the SARB lends money to commercial banks – is now above the…

STRUGGLING Stefanutti Stocks Holdings’ operating profit soared 505% and its loss more than halved in the six months to August 30. The positive news for the construction group that is being restructured to restore solvency may have spurred interest among investors, as the share price increased 6.2% to 103 cents at the close of trade on the JSE yesterday. The price has risen steadily, from 45c a share 12 months before. The restructuring plan was being implemented over the years ending February 2023 and February 2024, the group said in a statement yesterday. The loss for the interim period came to R33.5 million compared with a R97.91m loss at the same time last year. The operating profit increased to R54.3m from R8.93m. Contract revenue declined 9% to R2.87…

KAAP AGRI, which trades in the agriculture, general retail and fuel retail sectors, lifted revenue 48.4% to R15.7 million in the year to September 30 off the back of a 54.3% increase in the number of transactions and higher fuel prices. Compared with pre-Covid-19, revenue increased at a compound annual growth rate of 22.9%. Chief executive Sean Walsh said in a telephone interview that the sharp increase in fuel prices from the 370 million litres of fuel sold through their service stations drove revenue growth, but like-for-like growth was nevertheless “solid” at 24% over the year. He said the results were despite significantly higher farm input costs that resulted in pressure on agricultural producer’s cash flow. This was accompanied by tighter consumer spending, while a recovery of…

LEWIS Group generated R2.1 billion in merchandise sales for the six months ended September despite rising interest rates and high unemployment levels impacting consumer spending and confidence. The JSE-listed company sells household furniture, electrical appliances, and home electronics in southern African countries. In its financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2022, the group said merchandise sales were 4.5% higher than the previous period last year. In an interview yesterday, Lewis Group chief executive Johan Enslin said: “I think it’s fair to say that through the extremely challenging trading environment, we are satisfied with the results that we have achieved. “You would have noticed from the results, that conditional portion of our business really performed well, and we actually achieved credit sales growth during this period of…