Johannesburg – Pepkor Holdings said yesterday that positive trading momentum had continued in all its business post the March 31 year-end and some 22 new stores would be added this year.
The group, a value retailer of clothing, footwear and homeware (CFH), as well as furniture and consumer digital equipment and accessories, lifted headline earnings per share of continuing operations by a whopping 50.6% during the six months to March 31.
Investors were happy about the good results, and the share price was up 4.55% to R18.60 yesterday morning, far outstripping the 0.39% rise in the JSE All Share Index at the same time.
The share closed the day at R19.39 on the JSE.
Revenue was up 8.1% to R36.5 billion, and some R5 billion of cash was generated through the period. Net debt reduced substantially by R8-billion to R6.1-billion. One hundred and eight new stores were opened. There were 5,293 stores at March 31.
“The Pepkor group continued to outperform and expand its market share in a challenging and uncertain South African consumer retail market. Strong operational performance in addition to a significantly lower level of debt resulted in Pepkor growing headline earnings per share by 50.6 percent,” said the group’s management.
