Johannesburg – Retail healthcare giant Clicks on Wednesday noted in a voluntary trading update that pharmacy sales in South Africa “have been negatively impacted as the country has not experienced a traditional winter cold and flu season”.
The group did not mention the extent of the impact, however, it highlighted that colds and flu are generally strong drivers of sales growth fort eh company.
“The incidence of colds and flu has been limited as South Africans are wearing face masks during the pandemic, social interaction has been limited, schooling restricted and large numbers of people are working from home,” the group pointed out.
Despite the knock to pharmacy sales, Clicks reported that total retail sales grew by 6.3% for the 23-week period from 1 March to 9 August this year.
Clicks added that group turnover increased by 10% to R32.3 billion in the 49 weeks to August 9.
“Clicks Group presents the following update to provide insight into the group’s trading performance against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant national lockdown.
“This 23-week period covers trading from the start of the second half of the group’s financial year, including the period immediately before the country entered varying levels of lockdown from 27 March, and the subsequent four months of trading,” the company noted.
