South African retail giant Pick n Pay recorded an 81 percent increase in earnings from its Zimbabwean associate, TM Supermarkets, in the six months to September 30, at a time other regional markets performed poorly.
The group has a solid footprint across southern Africa, which includes operations in Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland.
In Zimbabwe, Pick n Pay owns 49 percent of TM Supermarkets, the country’s second largest retail chain. Meikles Africa owns 51 percent of TM.
TM Supermarkets has 58 stores in Zimbabwe, 15 of which trade under the Pick n Pay banner.
“TM Supermarkets, the Group’s associate in Zimbabwe delivered a strong result in a difficult trading environment. The Group’s share of TM’s earnings grew 81.5 percent on the same period last year to R28.5 million ($2 million), with growth of 53.7 percent in local currency terms,” company chair Gareth Ackerman said in statement accompanying unaudited financial results.
The group reported an eighteen percent increase in profit before tax to 381 million rand ($27.6 million) in the half year to August while its Rest of Africa division, which comprises of markets outside South Africa, recorded a 10 percent decrease in profit before tax weighed down by difficult trading conditions in Zambia and weakening currencies.
The group intends to expand its presence across Africa with plans to open its first store in Ghana towards the end of the 2017 calendar year, while a first store in Nigeria likely to open in 2018.-The Source
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