South African retailer paid investors R1.5 billion in five years

On the back of a five-year run of excellent financial results and strong operational performances, furniture retailer Lewis has maintained an average dividend yield of 10.7% over the past five financial years.

Between 2022 and 2026, the group has paid a total of R1.47 billion in dividends to its shareholders, going from 413 cents per share in 2022 to 897 cents in its latest financial year.

Lewis is often overlooked in South Africa’s retail market, but it is one of the country’s strongest performing retailers, with its share price having more than doubled over the past five years.

Its 2026 results, released on Thursday, 28 May, were no different, with the group reporting an 11.1% increase in revenue to R10.32 billion and a net profit of R853.8 million.

Lewis’s profit has nearly doubled since 2021, when it recorded R432.9 million, as the group continues to go from strength to strength.

Similarly, its headline earnings per share have surged from 616.5 cents in the 2021 financial year to 1,753.4 cents in 2026.

Operationally, the company has also boomed, as it has actively pursued strategic expansion and rolled out hundreds of stores.

Lewis operates through two segments: Traditional, its credit-focused arm that includes the flagship Lewis brand, and Speciality, which was previously reported as its Cash segment.

The group operates across five countries: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Namibia.

Between 2021 and 2026, Lewis’ footprint has grown immensely, now standing at 978 stores across its brands, following a record 58 store openings in 2026.

Its flagship brand, Lewis, has gone from 483 stores in 2021 to 515 stores in 2026. 

In fact, the only store brand that declined over this period was United Furniture Outlets (UFO), which went from 43 locations in 2021 to 36 in 2026.

This is due to the brand’s underperformance over several years, which first started in 2022 and has persisted ever since.

UFO’s underperformance has had financial consequences for the group, including goodwill write-offs and impairment losses. In its 2026 financial year, the UFO trademark had an impairment of R10.4 million.

The graph below shows Lewis’s share price performance over the past five years.

Rewarding shareholders

Amid its strong financial and operational growth over the past five years, Lewis has consistently been rewarding its shareholders through increased dividends.

From 2022 to 2026, Lewis has paid a total of R1.47 billion in dividends to its shareholders, with 2026 seeing the largest payout yet at R435.8 million, or 837 cents per share.

This has seen Lewis’s dividend yield average 10.7% over the past five financial years, with 2026 seeing a yield of 11.4%.

In an interview with BusinessDayTV following the release of Lewis’ 2026 results, PSG wealth manager Ricus Reeders described it as an “amazing story”.

Reeders explained that Lewis is one of the few retailers in South Africa that is growing, both in terms of store expansions and market share.

While the company is highly sensitive to interest rate changes, with nearly 70% of its sales being credit sales, Lewis has consistently navigated these fluctuations well.

South Africa is currently back in a “mini” hiking cycle, with the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee having hiked rates by 25 basis points at its May meeting.

This came on the back of heightened uncertainty and inflationary pressures stemming from the Middle East war.

However, Reeders said that, when it comes to Lewis, he is not overly concerned about the company’s ability to navigate this.

“This is not the first time that Lewis has gone through a rate cycle. I won’t call it a crisis, but this kind of rate cycle stress, they’ve managed it very well from a debtor’s book point of view,” he said. 

“If you take a look at the merchandising sales, you can’t complain about those numbers, and you couple that with growth in their footprint.”

“At current valuations, I won’t call it a screaming buy, but certainly, in the retail space, I won’t have sleepless nights holding it.”

In the same interview, Oyster Catcher Investments’ Mark du Toit said Lewis is a “fantastic retailing team”.

He added that the company has benefited from the demise of some competitors over the past few years, with Lewis having “outcompeted” them.

“I think it is a little bit more difficult for them going forward, but maybe they can weather the storm,” he said.

“It’s a mini rate hike cycle from what we can see now, so hopefully towards the back end of this year, we can look forward to a more stable outlook, maybe even the cutting cycle renewing in 2027.”

Financial year	Dividends paid
2022	R254.2 million
2023	R241.4 million
2024	R224.2 million
2025	R310.2 million
2026	R435.8 million
Total	R1.47 billion