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<p>Shoprite reported a 10.4 per cent increase in half year earnings, declaring an interim dividend 22.4 per cent higher than the prior comparative period. The retailer closed the last of its Kenyan stores in February, and is at the approval stage on the sale of the Nigeria supermarket operation. Shoprite CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Shoprite gains market share despite virus disruptions

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<p>Shoprite has reported a healthy set of results, increasing its annual dividend by 39 per cent, from the comparable period last year.</p>


Shoprite reports record sales amid pandemic

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Shoprite&#8217;s share price traded slightly weaker as it said sales growth for the first six weeks of the second half of the 2020 financial year are in line with the growth reported for this interim period to December 2019 and believes measures taken in its non-South Africa stores will help future profitability. The retailer which also increased market share and stores said it is entering into a joint venture with Equites Property Fund. Shoprite CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Shoprite expects measures taken in non-SA stores to help future profitability

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<p>One of Africa&#8217;s biggest retailers is reporting a trying year for their core operations. Shoprite&#8217;s South African division grew second half sales by 7.4 per cent. Profitability in the rest of Africa also remains a challenge. Basic headline earnings per share fell 19.6 per cent to some 780.8 cents. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO, Shoprite Group.</p>


Shoprite hurt by currency devaluations in Africa

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<p>JSE listed supermarket chain, Shoprite Holdings, reported a 14.2 per cent increase in headline earnings per share and declared an interim dividend increase of 13.9 per cent.</p>


Shoprite’s Pieter Engelbrecht on why this is the right time to enter Kenyan market

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<p>Shoprite delivered industry-leading results for the 2017 financial year, defying tough market conditions.  The group gained market-share and grew trading profit 11.6 per cent to R8 billion. Diluted headline earnings per share up 11.9 per cent.</p>


Shoprite defies tough trading environment

<p>CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; Africa&#8217;s biggest grocery retailer Shoprite is considering a push into Eastern Europe, where it hopes to use knowledge gleaned from former suitor Steinhoff International, its new CEO told Reuters.</p>
<p>The move signals a change in strategy for Shoprite under Chief Executive Pieter Engelbrecht, 47, as sovereign rating downgrades and a weak economy cloud prospects at home. It also leads it down a competitive path crowded with established retail giants such as Tesco, Carrefour, Lidl and Aldi .</p>
<p>Engelbrecht, who took over from 37-year veteran Whitey Basson in January, said the company wants to enter markets in Eastern Europe that either &#8220;have low competition or high economic growth&#8221;.</p>
<p>Shoprite has grown rapidly over the past two decades as shoppers from Lagos to Luanda increasingly shunned street markets and spent more of their wages in formal retail stores, but still less than 20 percent of its sales are outside its home market.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will look at other developing countries. That is also something that came out with our Steinhoff discussions and they&#8217;ve got good presence there, so we would like to leverage off that knowledge and definitely have a look at the East Bloc countries,&#8221; he said in an interview at the company&#8217;s head office outside Cape Town.</p>
<p>Steinhoff in February called off a plan to merge its African clothing and furniture assets with Shoprite&#8217;s stores, a deal bankers had said could create a giant valued at more than 180 billion rand ($13 billion).</p>
<p>&#8220;The two types of entry countries that you look at is either one with low competition or you look at one with high economic growth,&#8221; he said, adding that a trip to the region was planned although he did not say which countries he was considering.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will go slow. We are not going to over commit ourselves to learn if the market accepts us. So we will first establish a couple of stores and make sure the market likes us, and if we find acceptance then one can look at a merger or acquisition.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, a move to Eastern Europe would be fraught with risks and would not likely provide the profits necessary to offset the impact of reducing its exposure to the impact of credit ratings downgrade on South Africa, analysts said.</p>
<p>&#8220;So whatever ratings uplift one can expect from reducing South African exposure, might well be given up on lower profit margins and execution risk from such an acquisition,&#8221; said Unathi Loos, an Investec Asset Management retail analyst.</p>
<p>But Shoprite&#8217;s experience in selling to low income earners in far-flung cities across Africa could help it mount a strong challenge.</p>
<p>The company is also pondering a move into the South American market, Engelbrecht said.</p>
<p>SOUTH AFRICA</p>
<p>Engelbrecht, a chartered accountant who &#8211; before a serious neck injury &#8211; had dreams of playing rugby professionally, said Shoprite was maintaining sales and customer growth in South Africa and should reach its profit targets this year, but was concerned that a weaker rand currency could hurt consumers.</p>
<p>South Africa&#8217;s rand was the worst performing emerging market currency this month, retreating more than 10 percent against the greenback, as the shock of a midnight cabinet reshuffle and subsequent credit ratings downgrade weighed on sentiment. [</p>
<p>Engelbrecht said Shoprite had a strong balance sheet to help weather the volatile rand and was talking to banks to raise between 10 billion and 15 billion rand for its capital requirements over the next six years.</p>
<p>Though raising funds in South Africa is likely to be more costly due to the downgrades, Shoprite can still tap foreign markets through its structures in Mauritius.</p>
<p>And raising funds in Eastern Europe could be significantly cheaper than in South Africa, analysts said.</p>
<p>($1 = 13.6146 rand)</p>
<p>(Editing by Louise Heavens and Susan Thomas)</p>
<p>© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved</p>


Africa’s biggest grocery retailer Shoprite looks beyond the continent

<p>Shoprite Holdings has announced at the company’s Annual General Meeting held today (31 October 2016) in Cape Town that the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Whitey Basson, has decided to retire at the end of December 2016. To ensure an orderly leadership transition he will remain available to management.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Board has appointed Pieter Engelbrecht (47), former Chief Operating Officer, as the incoming CEO as of the first of January 2017. He has been with the company for 20 years and has played a leading role in the company’s growth under Basson’s leadership.</p>
<p>Basson’s decision to retire will bring to a close a remarkable career of nearly 45 years, virtually all of which was spent with Shoprite, in which the business grew from a small eight-store chain with a value of R1 million to a globally respected retailer with a market capitalisation of R114 billion, and over 140 000 employees today.</p>
<p>Dr Christo Wiese, Chairman of the Shoprite Holdings Board, in making the announcement said: “Whitey has been a very strong and charismatic leader, who has managed the company through market transitions and challenging times, taking calculated risks to turn the supermarket group into the leading food retailer on the continent.  He accelerated the growth of the business and inter alia spearheaded Shoprite’s pioneering expansion into the rest of Africa after 1994. He also successfully acquired and integrated Grand Bazaars, Checkers and OK Bazaars. He fully deserves his reputation as one of South Africa&#8217;s retail giants.”</p>
<p>“The board is immensely grateful for his innumerable contributions to the company and his distinguished tenure as CEO over almost four decades.  His continuous service to the company, its employees and stockholders, as well as to the broader South African business community has been remarkable. Pleasingly, Dr Basson will remain on the Shoprite Holdings board as Non-Executive Vice-Chairman to continue to share his knowledge and experience.”</p>
<p>Basson said: “I have been privileged to lead the Shoprite Group from small beginnings to one of the continent&#8217;s greatest companies.  After so many years with the Group, it’s time to pass the baton to a new generation of leadership.</p>
<p>“Given the quality of Shoprite’s current management team and their exceptional track record I foresee that the company will continue to grow from strength to strength.  Fortunately, effective succession has always been a key focus for the management team and over the last few years many of the key operational responsibilities had already been successfully handled by the senior management team. </p>
<p>&#8220;I look forward to being a sounding board for Pieter Engelbrecht and his team as they take the company forward and continue the high standards we have always set ourselves as the supermarket with the lowest prices and the highest level of customer satisfaction,” Basson concluded.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Pieter Engelbrecht

Shoprite gains market share despite virus disruptions

Shoprite reports record sales amid pandemic

Shoprite expects measures taken in non-SA stores to help future profitability

Shoprite hurt by currency devaluations in Africa

Shoprite’s Pieter Engelbrecht on why this is the right time to enter Kenyan market

Shoprite defies tough trading environment

Africa’s biggest grocery retailer Shoprite looks beyond the continent

Shoprite Group's Whitey Basson retires

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Pieter Engelbrecht

Shoprite gains market share despite virus disruptions

Shoprite reports record sales amid pandemic

Shoprite expects measures taken in non-SA stores to help future profitability

Shoprite hurt by currency devaluations in Africa

Shoprite’s Pieter Engelbrecht on why this is the right time to enter Kenyan market

Shoprite defies tough trading environment

Africa’s biggest grocery retailer Shoprite looks beyond the continent

Shoprite Group's Whitey Basson retires

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