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South African billionaire Raymond Ackerman and other members of his family, including his son Gareth Ackerman, have seen the market value of their stake in Pick ‘n Pay, South Africa’s second-largest retailer, fall by $96 million over the past 27 days.
The recent decline in the market value of their stakes comes after the retailer reported that its four-month sales increased by 6.4 percent, but like-for-like sales growth in South Africa was softer, impacted by store revamps and unprecedented power outages in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Pick ‘n Pay is the country’s second-largest retailer.
The Cape Town-based retail behemoth operates more than 2,000 stores across eight African countries, led by members of the Ackerman family, which includes Raymond Ackerman, who founded the retailer in 1967.
Gareth Ackerman, Raymond Ackerman’s son, and other family members own a sizable 25.53-percent stake in the leading retailer.
The family’s equity stake in Pick ‘n Pay, which consists of 124,677,238 issued shares, makes it one of South Africa’s wealthiest families.
The market value of the family’s equity interest has decreased by R1.74 billion ($96.63 million) from R7.79 billion ($433.6 million) to R6.06 billion ($336.98 million) as a result of the 22-percent drop in the company’s share price from R62.51 ($3.477) on January 19 to R48.58 ($2.703) at the time of drafting this report.
The $96.63-million drop in the market value of their stake reversed the family’s R713.15 million ($39.6 million) gains in the first 19 days of 2023, resulting in a year-to-date market value loss of R1.02 billion ($56.95 million) at the time of writing this report.
Despite facing significant challenges in recent years, such as heightened competition in the retail industry and the disruptive effects of COVID-19 on supply chains and consumer behavior, Pick ‘n Pay’s management implemented effective strategies that enabled the retailer to overcome these obstacles and achieve a remarkable 17.5-percent increase in profits during the first half of its 2023 fiscal period.
