Business

Major retailer opening large number of new stores across South Africa

Luke Fraser

 ·10 Mar 2026

Homechoice Retail is undergoing a massive expansion of its showrooms across South Africa as it hunts for new customers.

In its 2025 financial results, Weaver Fintech, Homechoice’s parent company, said showrooms are a key growth driver in retail, as they deliver high customer engagement and a full-service offering.

The expansion of the showroom network from 37 in 2024 to 60 locations in 2025 supported a 24% increase in showroom sales.

44% of new customers were also acquired via showrooms (2024: 32%). Revenue from the Homechoice Retail division grew 6% to R2 billion.

Trading profit rose 32% in spite of a softer second half, as the retail division tightened credit granting to improve return on assets and reduce risk.

The group said that the retail business has been restructured to drive double-digit operating margins, with a future focus on cash generation through reduced credit terms.

With a focus on a more cash-generative, asset-efficient model, the retail division recorded a R244 million non-cash, one-off impairment charge to align the value of its retail assets with the new strategy.

“This year we took deliberate steps to strengthen the quality and profitability of our Retail business,” said Chris de Wit, CEO of Homechoice.

“While tighter credit impacted second-half growth, the shift positions us for healthier returns in 2026. Our expanded showroom network continues to drive strong customer acquisition and supports a more modern, customer-centric retail model.”

Financials

Last year, the listed entity Homechoice International plc changed its name to Weaver Fintech Ltd, marking the group’s primary focus on fintech. It owns the PayJustNow and FinChoice brands.

Across the group’s whole operations, revenue increased by 23% to R5.5 billion. Group trading profit grew 41% to R1.1 billion, driven by the group’s fintech business, which contributed 93%.

The Group now serves more than 4.3 million customers, and adds more than 120,000 new fintech sign-ups every month.

“Our fintech ecosystem continues to deliver exceptional growth through the expansion of high-margin revenue streams and the engagement of our large active customer base, coupled with the low cost of digitally acquiring new customers,” said CEO of Weaver Fintech Sean Wibberley.

“The Fintech business has a sizeable opportunity to grow market share across its payments, lending and insurance products.”

Headline earnings per share increased 40% to 552.7 cents, and the board increased its total dividend for the year by 42% to 272 cents per share.

The group said that allocating capital to support its fintech business led to another strong performance, with the division reporting revenue growth of 36% to R3.4 billion. Fee revenue stood at R1.3 billion.

Weaver’s fintech platform now serves 3.4 million app users (up 73%), who perform 7 million digital transactions annually (up 52%).

The group said that the Payments and Insurance verticals continue to lead fee-based growth.

Moreover, its shopping platform also expanded as a major engagement channel, delivering 7.3 million monthly app logins and contributing to a 170% increase in B2B revenue.