Shoprite share on track to hit four-month high over sales

The share of Shoprite, the owner of Checkers and Usave stores, was on track for its best day in more than four months on Monday, after saying it gained market share during the lockdown as sales grew despite a reduction in traffic at its stores.

Group sales rose 6.4% to about R156.9bn in the 52 weeks to June 28, the group said in a trading update, with customer visits declining 7.4%, while average basket spend increased 18.4%.

Market share figures, which are only available up to end-May, reflect consecutive monthly market share gains for the past 15 months, Shoprite’s trading update reads.

In morning trade Shoprite’s share surged 8.16% to R113.10, putting it on track for its best one-day gain since March. The group’s share has fallen 9.86% in the year to date.

“SA Covid-19 lockdown regulations implemented from March 27 restricted trade in several categories within our supermarket business and as such, affected the business differently at different times,” the group said.

“However, across the board, our Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Shoprite and Usave brands performed admirably in what can only be described as incredibly difficult conditions for our employees and customers.”

Shoprite, which has a market capitalisation of R61.8bn, said on Monday it is writing down its businesses by R1.3bn due to a deteriorating outlook. This largely affected operations outside SA, and its furniture business.

The group’s furniture segment, representing 3.5% of group sales, reported a decline in sales of 11.9% for the year.

Adjusted basic headline earnings per share is expected to rise as much as 25.7%, Shoprite said. This figure is adjusted to exclude the after-tax effect of exchange rate gains or losses and the impact of hyperinflation. It also includes once-off Covid-19 costs.