No quick wins for Pick n Pay

While Pick n Pay’s financials are on the mend, continued losses in its core segment continue to weigh significantly on the group’s performance. 

Since the return of CEO Sean Summers, Pick n Pay has been on a turnaround journey to regain market share and return the retailer to its former glory.

This turnaround included a two-step Recapitalisation Plan involving a R4 billion Rights Offer and Boxer’s unbundling and listing, which raised R8.5 billion.

Both of these steps were completed in 2024 and were considered highly successful, as they allowed Pick n Pay to significantly reduce its debt and restore the company to a net cash position.

However, in the company’s results for the 53 weeks to 2 March 2025, it is clear that the company’s operational performance still has some ways to go, which Summers acknowledged.

“There are no surprises in this result; we are meeting the guidance that we have given every 6 months, making calm and steady progress,” he said. 

“You cannot rely on quick wins in our situation, and it will continue to be a journey as we rebuild our Institutional Memory.” 

He said this was an important year for Pick n Pay as the retailer executed the first leg of its operational and financial recovery. 

“We are exactly where we said we would be when presenting the strategy last May, and in some aspects, we are tracking slightly ahead,” he said. 

“Particularly pleasing is the reduction in our Pick n Pay trading loss by 64% after predicting a 50% reduction.”

Overall, Pick n Pay reported group turnover of R118.61 billion, up 5.62% from its 2024 financial year.

The retailer’s group trading profit was R1.76 billion, a significant improvement from the R405 million recorded in 2024.

This improvement was primarily driven by Boxer, which contributed R2.31 billion, while the Pick n Pay segment reported a trading loss of R549 million.

Overall, the group recorded a R651 million loss for its 2025 financial year, an improvement from the R3.30 billion loss it reported in 2024.

The retailer also reported a basic loss per share of 111.01 cents per share, an improvement compared to the loss of 581.85 cents per share seen in the prior period.

“When I returned in October 2023, I stated that the recovery of Pick n Pay would be a multi-year process and that things would get worse before they got better,” Summers said. 

“It is our sense that we see this unfortunate chapter now bottoming out, and we have recalibrated our recovery programme to break even in FY28.”

Pick n Pay suspended dividend payments in the 2024 financial year in response to significant financial losses. 

In its 2025 results, the retailer said the board will consider resuming dividend distributions once it is satisfied that the group’s cash generation is sufficiently strong and sustainable.