Major South African pharmacy giant is crushing it

Dis-Chem has continued its strong momentum into the 2026 financial year, with the first half of the year showing a significant rise in profits and earnings.

The pharmacy retail chain also continued rolling out stores across the country, opening a net 17 retail pharmacy stores over the six-month period.

Dis-Chem is one of South Africa’s biggest pharmacy chains, with operations in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.

On Thursday, 30 October 2025, Dis-Chem released its results for the six months ended 31 August 2025, which revealed a strong performance for the group.

Over the six-month period, Dis-Chem saw its revenue grow by 8.7% to R21.3 billion, with retail up 11.1% to R16.8 billion.

The group also saw a considerable increase in expenses, up 10.1% to R5.48 billion. This was largely driven by an 11.7% jump in retail expenses as the company continued its expansion strategy.

Despite this, Dis-Chem maintained a healthy profit margin, with its total income margin improving to 31.1% and its retail total income margin increasing to 30.8%.

The company reported a total profit of R659.77 million for the year, a 10.4% jump from the first half of its 2025 financial year. Dis-Chem also recorded basic earnings per share of 73.9 cents, up 9.6% compared to the prior year.

Over the six-month period, Dis-Chem opened 17 retail pharmacy stores, bringing its estate to 302 retail pharmacy stores and 44 retail baby stores as of 31 August 2025.

The company reported that its wholesale business also now services 1,608 independently owned pharmacies, representing around 85% of the independently owned pharmacy market.

Looking forward, Dis-Chem expects its strong trajectory to continue, despite a constrained consumer environment.

CEO Rui Morais said the company’s innovation pipeline and data-led approach positions it well for long-term, sustainable growth.

“The establishment of X, bigly labs has accelerated our transition toward an integrated health and wellness ecosystem that places the customer firmly at the centre,” he said.

For the rest of the 2026 financial year, Dis-Chem has ambitious plans to continue its store expansion, with a target of 137,000 m² of retail space and 32 new pharmacy stores.

Dis-Chem declared an interim dividend of 29.42 cents per share, an increase of 9% compared to its interim dividend in the first half of the 2025 financial year.