The small South African retailer that quadrupled investors’ money in five years

Lewis Group has seen an incredible 300% jump in its share price over the past five years, as the small retailer has continued to go from strength to strength.

One of South Africa’s oldest retailers, Lewis opened its first store in 1934 in Woodstock, Cape Town. 

By 1972, the retailer had grown its network to 50 stores. Today, the company boasts over 900 stores across its operating markets.

Lewis has stores in 5 countries, and was one of the first South African retailers to expand into Southern Africa as far back as the late 1960s.

While the company operates through its Lewis-branded stores, it also owns prominent brands like UFO Furniture, Real Beds, Bedzone, Beares, Best Home & Electric and Monarch Insurance.

Lewis has been listed on the JSE since 2004, and has since grown its market cap to R4.2 billion.

In May this year, Umthombo Wealth’s Alex Duys chose Lewis as his preferred stock pick on BusinessDayTV.

Duys explained that Umthombo is a “very happy” shareholder in Lewis, noting that the company has been investing materially into its advances book.

This type of investment usually takes around two to three years to filter through into earnings, which is what boosted the company’s 2025 financial year earnings. 

“Their collections remain exceptionally well since the Covid years, and you see the bad debts are well-controlled,” Duys said.

He added that lower interest rates in South Africa will also aid consumer spending, which will, in turn, give well-positioned retailers like Lewis a welcome boost. 

“This is a company that gives money back into shareholders’ pockets and is delivering growth,” he said.

Lewis has consistently paid dividends over the past five years, maintaining a dividend payout ratio of between 55% and 61%, and a yield of around 11%.

In the past five years, Lewis’ share price has grown by over 300%, effectively quadrupling investors’ money.

Latest results

Over the past five years, Lewis has reported strong results year after year, with its latest results for the first half of the 2026 financial year being no exception.

For the six months ended 30 September 2025, Lewis reported revenue growth of 11.3% to R4.8 billion and increased merchandise sales by 6.7% to R2.5 billion.

The company’s operating profit increased by 21.4% to R522 million, while its earnings per share grew by 13.8% to 619 cents per share.

Lewis said these strong results came despite constrained trading conditions, as the group continued to invest for longer-term growth by increasing its store footprint and growing its debtors book, which increased by 14.0% to R8.5 billion.

The company’s store base increased to 958 following the opening of a net 40 new stores in the first half of the year, the highest number of stores opened by the group in any six-month period. 

This resulted in Lewis achieving its full-year store opening target within the first half of its 2026 financial year.

The company noted that its new openings in the six-month period included 28 new outlets for Real Beds, the bedding specialist Lewis acquired in 2024, expanding the brand’s store base to 44.

Lewis has been investing heavily in its business, which saw its net finance costs rise by R26.7 million to R114.4 million in the interim period.

This was due to higher levels of borrowings resulting from the company’s investment in its debtors book and store expansion.

However, the company’s balance sheet remains strong and its net asset value per share increased by 6.6% to R98.23.

Lewis declared an interim dividend of 337 cents per share, 12.3% higher than the prior interim period.