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Pick ‘n Pay, a leading South African supermarket chain controlled by the wealthy Ackerman family, reported in a trading update this morning, July 26, that sales for the first 18 weeks of its 2023 fiscal year increased by 10.7 percent despite operational disruptions.
Pick ‘n Pay is the country’s second-largest retailer. Under the leadership of members of the Ackerman family, which includes Raymond Ackerman, who founded the retailer in 1967, the Cape Town-based retail behemoth operates more than 2,000 stores across eight African countries.
His son, the group’s chairman, Gareth Ackerman, and other family members own a beneficial 25.53-percent stake in the leading retailer, or 124,677,238 issued shares.
The trading update obtained by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Pick ‘n Pay’s total sales rose 10.7 percent due to strong performance across its broad segments, which span 2,000 stores across eight African countries.
Despite limiting its South African internal selling price inflation for the period to five percent, which was lower than the country’s 7.1-percent food inflation, the sales of the group’s South Africa segment increased by 10.5 percent, with like-for-like sales growth of 8.3 percent.
Despite the impact of soaring inflation and food and grocery prices on its operations, the group’s rest-of-Africa segment revenue increased by 18.9 percent and by 9.5 percent in constant currency.
The group’s sales were unaffected by the July 2021 civil unrest, which began on July 9.
The South African retailer anticipates that the consumer environment will remain difficult as a result of rising global inflation and interest rates, as well as the continuing impact of severe load-shedding in the country.
It remains confident, however, that it has the right strategic plan, with an emphasis on delivering greater efficiency and growth focused on areas of the market where consumers are looking for unbeatable value.
As of press time, the group’s shares were trading at R58.5 ($3.5), 2.87-percent higher than their opening price, as investors remained bullish following the group’s trading update.
Pick ‘n Pay’s market capitalization is presently R28.1 billion ($1.68 billion), with the Ackerman family’s 25.53-percent stake valued at R7.17 billion ($427.8 million) at the time of writing.
