The wealthy South African Ackerman family received R231.15 million ($15.04 million) in dividends from their Pick n’ Pay shareholding, as the South African retailer reported a double-digit increase in earnings at the end of its 2022 fiscal year.
Members of the Ackerman family, which includes Raymond Ackerman, who founded the retailer in 1967, and Gareth Ackerman, the group’s chairman, own a beneficial 25.53-percent stake in the leading retailer, or 124,677,238 issued shares.
The $15.04-million dividend paid electronically to the family’s bank account on Monday was drawn from the group’s retained earnings of R4.72 billion ($306.5 million) as part of the cash distribution approved by the board of directors.
Pick n Pay is the second-largest retailer in the country. The retail behemoth headquartered in Cape Town operates more than 2,000 stores in eight African countries.
Despite the negative impact of civil unrest in July 2021 and ongoing trading restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group delivered a resilient performance over its 2022 fiscal year, with turnover increasing by 5.2 percent to R97.9 billion ($6.36 million), up from R93.1 billion ($6.05 million) the previous year, and earnings increasing from R967.1 million ($62.8 million) to R1.214 billion ($78.56 million).
The resilient performance comes despite an estimated R2.7 billion ($175.31 million) in lost sales due to store closures caused by civil unrest and liquor trading restrictions, primarily in the first half of the year.
As a result of the strong financial performance, the board declared a final dividend of R1.854 ($0.12) per share, payable on June 6, bringing the total dividend to R2.215 ($0.144) per share, a 23-percent increase over the previous year’s payment.
According to the board’s dividend declaration, the family received a total dividend of R231.15 million ($15.04 million) from their Pick n’ Pay shareholding. This is in addition to their $2.9 million in interim dividends received near the end of 2021.
