Botswana tycoon Ramachandran Ottapathu’s Choppies expects 174-percent surge in half-year earnings

Choppies Enterprises Limited, a Botswana-based supermarket chain led by leading businessmen Ramachandran Ottapathu and Farouk Ismail, has revealed that it expects its profit to exceed expectations in the first six months ending on Dec. 31, 2021, which represents the first half of its 2022 fiscal year.

Choppies Enterprises is Botswana’s largest retail chain, with a centralized distribution network in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya, and distributes both prominent international food brands and its own private label items.

Ottapathu and Farouk Ismail, who hold key roles in the store, control a combined 44.5-percent interest in Choppies Enterprises, amounting to 582,090,129 ordinary shares.

According to a trading update published by the company on Mon., Feb. 14, its profit after tax is predicted to expand by 174 to 194 percent, or BWP104 million ($9 million) to BWP112 million ($9.7 million), up from BWP38 million ($3.3 million) in the same time last year.

This report is likely to bolster investor confidence as the investing public trades on the expectation that the retailer is on track to build on the great financial performance that it generated at the conclusion of its fiscal year 2021, which ended in June.

Choppies stated that the trading update is a requirement of the Botswana Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

It noted that the projected financial information upon which the trading update is based has not been evaluated or reported on by the company’s external auditors.

Choppies Enterprises reported its first profit since 2016 upon the conclusion of its 2021 fiscal year, with earnings exceeding BWP59 million ($5 million).

Profit growth may be attributed to cost-cutting efforts that resulted in reduced staff expenses, lower levels of foreign currency losses, and, ultimately, a 7.2-percent increase in operating profit over the period.

Choppies shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were trading at R0.8 ($0.0528) in response to the announcement, 14.3-percent higher than their opening price on the local bourse this morning.

Its market capitalization is presently R913 million ($60.3 million), while Ottapathu and Ismail’s joint ownership is valued at R406.3 million ($26.8 million).