Double blow for Clicks
Healthcare retail group Clicks has seen turnover rise, but was hit by a system issue in Cape Town and the non-renewal of two contracts with United Pharmaceutical Distributors (UPD).
In the first 20 weeks of the 2026 financial year to 11 January, Clicks said turnover increased by 7.4% (2025: 8.1%) to R19.5 billion, compared with the corresponding 20 weeks in the previous financial year.
Clicks said that retail sales, which include Clicks, UniCare, the Body Shop and Sorbet corporate stores, jumped by 6.0%.
Sales in comparable stores jumped by 3.7% (2025: 5.9%), with the selling price inflation averaging 2.4% (2025: 3.5%) and volume growth of 1.3% (2025: 2.4%).
CEO Bertina Engelbrecht said that the group’s performance was driven by strong pharmacy sales growth of 9.0% since the start of the financial year.
The group also recorded record Black Friday sales and strong customer demand for Christmas gifting ranges.
Retail turnover was impacted by aggressive competitor discounting activity over the festive trading period.
The group also noted that delays in implementing warehouse management systems at Clicks’ retail distribution centre in Cape Town resulted in lower product availability in Western Cape stores.
Management said the impact of the system’s delay on retail sales was R120 million.
Product availability in the Western Cape has improved since the start of January 2026 and is expected to hit the targeted levels seen during February 2026.
UPD’s wholesale turnover jumped by 11.4% (2025: 9.5%), supported by higher purchasing compliance across its core wholesale channels and an increase in the number of Clicks pharmacies opened.
That said, UPD’s notional turnover in respect of bulk agency distribution clients declined by 20.2%, impacted by the non-renewal of two contracts in the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year.
Due to this non-renewal, UPD’s total managed turnover decreased by 0.2% for the period.
The group will release its interim results for the six months to 28 February 2026 on 23 April 2026.
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