How much it costs to be on the JSE

Discount retailer Boxer recently revealed that the ongoing cost of being a listed entity on the JSE is around R16 million over a six-month period.

The combined cost of being a listed entity and expensing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) admission award totalled R57 million.

This was revealed in Boxer’s latest interim results for the six months through August 2025, which marked the first half of the retailer’s 2026 financial year.

This will be the retailer’s first full financial year as a listed entity, with its bumper IPO having taken place in November 2024.

Boxer’s listing was the largest IPO the JSE had seen in eight years. Therefore, the retailer’s listing drew a lot of excitement, with its share price gaining 18% on the day.

This bumper listing raised R8.5 billion and was multiple times oversubscribed at the top end of the range.

Boxer offered up to 202.4 million shares, around 40% of its total issued share capital, at a share price of between R42 and R54 per share.

However, around a week before listing, qualifying investors were informed that orders submitted below R54.00 per share risked receiving no allocation.

The R8.5 billion the listing raised was paid to Boxer’s parent company, Pick n Pay, which had spun off the discount retailer as part of a recapitalisation strategy.

Pick n Pay had been struggling for years and, under the leadership of returning CEO Sean Summers, embarked on a turnaround strategy.

The first part of this turnaround plan involved a recapitalisation to stabilise Pick n Pay’s debt, as the retailer had become technically insolvent.

This recapitalisation was a runaway success, with R4 billion raised through a Rights Issue and a further R8.5 billion through Boxer’s IPO.

After the spin-off and listing, Pick n Pay retains a majority stake in Boxer, whose market capitalisation has overtaken its parent company on the JSE.

Boxer’s latest interim results revealed that this bumper listing came at a cost, with the retailer having spent R41 million for the expensing of an IPO admission award.

In addition, the retailer revealed that ongoing listed entity costs reached R16 million over the six-month period.

Boxer going from strength to strength

Despite these significant costs, Boxer reported a strong performance for the first half of its 2026 financial year.

The retailer’s revenue grew by 13.76% to R22.75 billion, with turnover up 13.88% to R22.52 billion.

Boxer’s trading profit increased by 15.08% to R931 million while its profit for the period grew by a more modest 2.24% to R502 million.

The retailer has also been on an ambitious store rollout for years, with this only set to continue in its 2026 financial year.

Originally launched under the name KwaZulu Cash & Carry in 1977, Boxer’s first store just wholesaled essential goods in the surrounding area.

However, it grew rapidly, which meant the company soon had to reposition its brand as a discount food retailer in the lower-income market and changed its name to Boxer Cash & Carry, which would eventually become the Boxer that South Africans know today.

Pick n Pay, under Summers’ first tenure as CEO, snapped up Boxer in 2002 for R185 million to expand its reach into rural and peri-urban areas, specifically in KZN and the Eastern Cape.

This acquisition allowed Boxer to continue growing its footprint and offering rapidly, and it launched Boxer Build in 2004 and Boxer Liquors in 2009.

In the first six months of its 2026 financial year, Boxer rolled out a net 22 stores, brining its estate to 547 stores.

The retailer has no plans to stop, as it aims to open 60 new stores in its 2026 financial year.

This strong interim performance also allowed Boxer’s board to declare the retailer’s maiden dividend of 45.30 cents per share.