Major retailer opening new stores across South Africa
Mr Price continues to rapidly expand its store base across South Africa, adding over 60 stores in a single quarter.
In a trading update for Q3 FY2026, from 28 September 2025 to 27 December 2025, the group said its total store footprint grew to 3,164 stores, up by a net 64 stores in the quarter.
The group’s trading space increased by 3.5% on a weighted-average basis. The group’s store base could soon grow to over 5,000 if its controversial takeover of European retailer NKD goes through.
Looking at the third quarter, the company recorded a 3.6% increase in sales to R15.1 billion against a strong sales growth base of 10.6%.
The group said it maintained its market share and gained further share in its core market, South Africa, including in the key month of December. Its retail sales grew ahead of the market’s 1.6% growth.
Online sales grew by 8.3% against a double-digit base in the prior period. The group’s retail selling price inflation was 5.2% and total unit sales decreased by 1.5% to 109 million.
“The base effects in the quarter were mainly driven by the withdrawals from retirement savings as South Africa introduced the two-pot retirement system,” said Mr Price.
“While interest rates and inflation have declined, the discretionary retail consumer environment throughout most of 2025 remained muted.”
Mr Price noted that disposable income growth continued to be absorbed by high household servicing costs and the diversionary spend into online betting and other categories.
The group’s gross profit margin decreased by 20 basis points over the period, but it expects the GP margin for the full financial year to remain at FY2025 levels.
The group noted that cash sales, which constitute 90.9% of total retail sales, rose 3.7%, while credit sales increased 2.9% as the group continued to manage its credit-granting prudently.
Segmental performance
Mr Price noted that the Apparel segment grew 3.2% during the quarter, with the Mr Price Apparel, Studio
88 and Power Fashion’s sales growth outperformed the market.
The Homeware segment’s retail sales increased 4.5% and comparable store sales increased 1.7%. Despite a 100-basis-point decline in the segment’s market share, all homeware divisions improved GP margins.
The Telecoms segment increased retail sales by 11.0%, outperforming the comparable market and further increasing market share by 30 basis points.
Mr Price said that the Telecoms segment grew its GP margin and continued to expand its profitability.
Other income increased by 1.9% to R320 million, driven by lower debtor interest and fees from the group’s retail debtor book, as the repo rate decreased by 100 basis points.
| Segment | Retail Sales Growth | Contribution to Retail Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Apparel segment | 3.2% | 83.1% |
| Homeware segment | 4.5% | 14.0% |
| Telecoms segment | 11.0% | 2.9% |
| Group | 3.6% | 100.0% |
Outlook
Mr Price said that the South African economic growth outlook for 2026 is improving, with growth expected to be supported by low inflation, interest rate cuts, commodity boosts and a stronger rand.
“However, the international political and economic environments are uncertain and could hold risk for
South Africa’s improving prospects,” it said.
“The retail sector should benefit from the healthier macroeconomic environment supporting
increased flow-through of disposable income to discretionary categories.”
In the first four weeks of January, the group saw sales growth of 4.2% against a high base of 16.0%. However, the Q4 base is softer at 7.6% growth.
The group’s management is focused on stock management, free cash flow generation and sustainable margin expansion.
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