Pick n Pay’s crown jewel now has 600 grocery and liquor stores across South Africa

Boxer opened 24 new stores in the first half of its 2027 financial year, as the discount retail juggernaut continues to expand rapidly.

These 24 additions, which included both grocery and liquor stores, brought Boxer’s footprint across South Africa and Eswatini to 600.

This puts the retailer just under halfway through its goal of opening 60 new stores in the 2027 financial year.

This was revealed in Boxer’s results for the six months through August 2026, which were released on Monday, 12 October.

In these results, the retailer reported significant footprint expansion and a strong financial performance.

Boxer’s turnover grew by 6.3% to R24.1 billion. While strong, this is slightly slower than the 10.9% growth it reported for the second half of its 2026 financial year.

The group attributed this to a further reduction in selling price inflation to -2.4% and increased pressure on consumers following the fuel price increases earlier this year.

Despite these pressures, Boxer managed to gain market share, and its trading profit increased 8.1% to reach R1.01 billion. Headline earnings jumped 9.2% to 124.83 cents per share.

The group also recorded a significant increase in expenses, with trading expenses up 10.2% to R4.2 billion, outpacing turnover and profit growth.

Boxer attributed this to investments in expanding its store network, higher energy costs due to rising electricity and fuel prices, and increased promotional advertising.

The retailer’s footprint expansion has been a key goal over the past few years. In 2026, it opened 52 new stores and brought its total footprint to 564.

Now, Boxer wants to surpass this performance in the 2027 financial year, with the goal of opening 60 new stores.

In the first half of the year, Boxer opened 24 new stores, consisting of 9 superstores and 15 liquor stores.

In a press release shared after the results, Boxer said this momentum continued into the second half of the year, with the retailer having opened 32 stores as of 30 September 2026.

“Looking ahead, our focus remains firmly on the significant long-term opportunity ahead of us,” outgoing Boxer CEO Marek Masojada said. 

“We have a clear, strong value proposition, and significant room to expand our store footprint and customer reach.” 

“Our priority is to execute consistently against that opportunity, and continue to offer our customers the best value possible, particularly when household budgets are under pressure.”

On the back of these results, Boxer declared an interim dividend of 49.93 cents per share, up 10.2% from the first half of 2026.