Retail

Clicks CEO bets big on her company

Bertina Engelbrecht

Clicks CEO Bertina Engelbrecht bought R3.5 million worth of the company’s stocks on the open market – an investment that has already grown by nearly 6%.

This comes after the company announced a significant increase in sales for the first 20 weeks of its 2025 financial year.

On Tuesday, 28 January, Clicks informed shareholders that Engelbrecht bought 10,200 shares in the company the day before at a volume-weighted average price of R339.12 per share.

Since Monday morning, Clicks’ share price has risen nearly 6% to around R359.71 per share. However, the retailer’s share price is still down around 3.5% in the year to date.

Clicks is South Africa’s leading health, beauty, and wellness retailer and the largest retail pharmacy chain, with a network of over 930 stores.

Engelbrecht has been at the retailer’s helm since January 2022. She holds B.Proc and LLM degrees and is an admitted attorney.

Earlier in her career, she was director of organisational effectiveness at Sea Harvest, managed her own consultancy practice and spent eight years with Transnet.

Later, she was the general manager for Shell SA Energy and the regional human resources manager for Shell Oil Products Africa.

She joined Clicks as a human resources director in 2006, and in 2022, her responsibilities were expanded to include strategic stakeholder engagement. 

In 2023, she also became a member of the Council of Stellenbosch University.

With her appointment as Clicks CEO, Engelbrecht became the first female leader of a major South African retailer.

Under Engelbrecht’s leadership, Clicks has had to navigate some tumultuous times.

Most recently, the retailer was engaged in a legal battle over Unicorn Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturing company in which Clicks had a beneficial interest.

In 2016, the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) accused Clicks of violating the Pharmacy Act and regulations that prohibit manufacturers from having a direct or indirect beneficial interest in a retail pharmacy.

This is to ensure pharmacists do not have a vested interest in the medicines they dispense or recommend.

These concerns led to investigations by regulatory bodies and increased scrutiny of the licensing agreements between Clicks and the Unicorn suppliers.

Following a Constitutional Court loss against the ICPA in 2024, Clicks offloaded its entire shareholding in Unicorn Pharmaceuticals.

Now, the matter has been successfully resolved with the Department of Health, which has started issuing pharmacy licences to Clicks again – a positive development for the retailer’s ambitious expansion plans.

The week before Engelbrecht made her share purchases, Clicks announced that, for the 20 weeks to 12 January 2025, its turnover increased by 8.1% to R18.2 billion. 

The company’s retail sales – which includes Clicks, The Body Shop and Sorbet corporate stores – increased by 8.7%.

Sales in comparable stores increased by 5.9%, with selling price inflation averaging 3.5% and volume growth of 2.4%.

Clicks also provided an update on its expansion plans for this year. The retailer’s medium-term goal is to have 1,200 stores in South Africa. 

The retailer opened 11 new pharmacies in November and December and announced plans to accelerate its expansion programme in the months ahead.

The Department of Health has also granted it 27 new pharmacy licences.

Engelbrecht has been able to steer her company through these tough times, with the retailer remaining resilient throughout.

While Clicks’ share price is down this year to date, it has grown by over 14.50% since she took the helm in January 2022.

Columnist and investment analyst Chris Gilmour pointed out in Business Day that Clicks is the most highly rated retail share on the JSE, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 30 times.

He said the retailer also enjoys the third-highest market capitalisation in the sector, with a market cap of around R85 billion. 

Only Pepkor, with a market cap of R98 billion, and Shoprite, with a market cap of R170 billion, are more valuable in the local listed retail sector.

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