Shoprite spends R560 million more on diesel to keep the lights on

Shoprite said it spent R560 million more on diesel to operate generators across its South African stores to trade uninterrupted during load-shedding stages five and six.

Shoprite released an operational update for the six months ended 1 January 2023, which showed strong growth across all sectors.

The group increased revenue by 16.8% to R106.3 billion, with particularly strong revenue growth in its South African and international supermarkets.

Shoprite’s core business, Supermarkets RSA, contributing 80.1% to group sales, achieved sales growth of 17.5%.

The growth in sales reflects a record Black Friday and festive season, underpinning 46 months of uninterrupted market share gains.

Checkers and Checkers Hyper reported sales growth of 16.9%, Shoprite and Usave achieved sales growth of 15.1%, and Supermarkets RSA LiquorShop sales increased by 35.6%.

Supermarkets RSA added a net 191 stores during the past 12 months to a total 1,953 stores.

Apart from its strong local performance, a statement that attracted attention was the increased cost of keeping the lights on.

The additional spend on diesel to operate generators across its Supermarkets RSA stores to trade uninterrupted during load-shedding stages five and six amounted to R560 million for the six months.

It shows the impact of load-shedding on the retail sector, and the additional costs will filter down to the price of food and other products.