Shoprite boom continues

Shoprite performed exceptionally well in the first quarter of its 2025 financial year, with sales growing by over 10%.

This was revealed in an operational update Shoprite released on Tuesday, which covered the first quarter period that ended September 2024.

The retailer said it released this update ahead of schedule to align with a series of upcoming fund manager and shareholder engagements.

The update revealed that, in the past three months, Shoprite has managed to grow its sales by over 10% while keeping its internal inflation at around 3%.

On a net basis, the company opened 68 stores during the first quarter. The majority of these, a net of 53 stores, were opened in its core South African Supermarkets segment.

The majority of this segment is represented by the company’s food retail operations, including Shoprite, Usave, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and LiquorShop.

The segment increased sales by 11.4% for the first quarter, slightly lower than the previous year’s 13.3% growth. 

After measuring 3.0% for July 2024, Shoprite’s internal selling price inflation has continued to move lower during August and September, measuring 2.6% for the three-month period.

The Supermarkets RSA segment opened 56 stores and closed three stores during the first quarter: nine Checkers, two Shoprite, nine Usave, 20 LiquorShop, 13 Petshop Science, one UNIQ clothing by Checkers and two Checkers Outdoor. 

The company’s Supermarkets Non-RSA operating segment, trading from nine countries outside of South Africa, increased merchandise sales for the first quarter by 19.7% in constant currency and by 3.2% in rands.

This segment opened four new stores in the first quarter – one Checkers, two Shoprite, and one LiquorShop.

The company’s Furniture segment saw sales increase by 7.6% during the first quarter, up significantly from 0.5% in the comparable period. Credit sales participation measured 14.3% of sales.

The segment’s store base increased by one store during the first quarter to end the period with 431 stores.

The company’s other operating segments reported a 10.2% increase in sales, down significantly from 22.2% in the comparable period.

Shoprite also provided updates on events that happened after the first quarter.

This includes its acquisition of the remaining 50% shareholding in Pingo Delivery, the logistics service Shoprite uses to power its wildly popular Checkers Sixty60 service.

Previously, Shoprite held a 50% shareholding in the company but is now looking to acquire the other half. Following approval from the Competition Tribunal, this transaction will be effective in October 2024. 

Another important deal Shoprite is involved with is the sale of the majority of its furniture business to Pepkor Holdings.

Shoprite said the transaction process is progressing accordingly, with the timeline to completion closer to its June 2025 financial year-end.

Shoprite also provided an update on its share buy-back programme, launched in its 2021 financial year.

During the first quarter and for its 2025 financial year to date, the retailer has purchased shares to the value of R997 million at an average share price of R289.29. 

Since the retailer’s share buy-back programme was initiated, it has repurchased 12.1 million shares worth R2.6 billion at an average purchase price of R211.59 per share.

Shoprite plans to issue its 2025 interim period sales update by the end of February 2025 and will report its 2025 interim results in March 2025.

The table below outlines the change in sales growth from continuing operations for  the three months ended September 2024 over the corresponding three months ended September 2023: