The South African retailer whose share price is down almost 50% in 2025

Truworths has experienced a tough year in 2025, with the retailer’s share price down over 48% in the year to date.

Truworths is one of the country’s oldest retailers, founded in 1917 as The Alliance Trading Company.

Today, the retailer is known for brands like Daniel Hechter, Uzzi, Ginger Mary, Naartjie, and LTD Kids. It is listed on the JSE with a market cap of R21.5 billion.

However, the company has been struggling to keep pace in South Africa’s highly competitive apparel retail space.

On Thursday, 6 November, Truworths released a trading statement that showed its sales in Africa remained under severe pressure in the first 18 weeks of its 2026 financial year.

While the retailer’s UK division saw a 6% increase in retail sales, this was offset by a 4% decline in Truworths Africa, the group’s largest segment.

Truworths attributed this to a high base in 2024, when sales were boosted by high levels of promotional activity to ensure that terminal stock levels were achieved.

The company also noted that, despite a decline in sales, Truworths Africa’s gross profit margin improved. 

It added that “several strategic initiatives have been initiated to reposition Truworths Africa for the future”.

This repositioning will be crucial to ensure Truworths remains competitive in South Africa’s apparel retail market, which includes strong local players like Mr Price, The Foschini Group (TFG), and Pepkor.

Pepkor is in a league of its own, as one of the biggest retailers in Africa with operations that extend far beyond apparel and a market cap of just under R100 billion.

Therefore, Truworths’ operations are most comparable to Mr Price and TFG, which target similar markets.

All three of these retailers have been under severe pressure over the past few years, reflected in their share prices that have been in the red for the past year.

Truworths under pressure

While most of South Africa’s clothing retailers are feeling the pressure, Truworths’ operations have been on a downward trend for years.

In its 2025 financial year, Truworths’ revenue grew by a modest 2.83% to R23.01 billion, while sales rose by 3.19% to R21.32 billion.

However, the company’s cost of sales outpaced sales growth, having increased by 5.38% to R10.39 billion.

Truworths’ profit for the year dropped by a notable 28.31% to R2.80 billion, while its basic earnings per share shrank by 28.82% to 745.2 cents.

While the retailer attributed this weak performance to South Africa’s persistently sub-optimal macroeconomic conditions, its competitors released far stronger results.

Mr Price’s annual results for its 2025 financial year saw the retailer report a 7.9% increase in revenue to R40.9 billion, while its basic earnings were up 11% to 1,416.3 cents.

Group retail sales increased by 7.8% to R39.4 billion, and comparable store sales rose by 3.4%. 

TFG also recorded a decent performance for its 2025 financial year, with revenue up 4.1% to R62.6 billion, while basic earnings per share grew by 4.9% to 980.6 cents per share.

Both retailers also saw their market share grow over their most recent reporting periods.

Therefore, Truworths is lagging behind these competitors, with significant efforts now needed to stem the decline.

South Africa’s clothing retail space has also become increasingly competitive over the past few years, as food retailers have also been looking for a share of the market.

Woolworths has operated in the apparel retail industry for years, known through brands like Country Road and Trenery.

Pick n Pay Clothing has also become one of Pick n Pay’s most successful operating segments, showing impressive growth year after year.

Shoprite’s Checkers is a more recent entrant in the apparel retail industry, having launched its Uniq brand in 2023.

In addition, international entrants like Shein have boomed in South Africa over the past few years, posing a significant threat to local apparel retailers.

Eyeing a turnaround

Despite this influx of competitors fighting for a slice of the market, All Weather Capital’s Shane Watkins believes Truworths can turn things around. He chose the retailer as his top stock pick in a recent interview with BusinessDayTV.

Watkins explained that Truworths shares are not only “extremely cheap”, at a price-to-earnings ratio of around 7, but that the company also has a strong management team.

Watkins said the retailer’s current CEO, Michael Mark, who has been at the helm since 1991, is “among the most trustworthy chief executives on the JSE”.

“I don’t think that he’s immune to what goes on around him. I mean, we know the economy is not growing,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, one of the most important things we believe at All Weather is that you must invest with management that you trust.” 

“And if you don’t trust the jockey, just don’t do it. And I think he’s a very trustworthy person.”