Business

Clicks opening 10 new types of stores in South Africa

Luke Fraser

 ·23 Apr 2026

Clicks will open new concept stores across South Africa, with the healthcare retailer hitting over 1,000 outlets in the first half of the 2026 financial year.

In its interim financial results for the 6 months ended 28 February 2026, the group said that the consumer environment is expected to remain under pressure in the second half of the financial year.

This is due to rising fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and associated inflationary pressures, which are constraining household spending.

Clicks also plans to open 40 to 50 new stores and 40 to 50 new pharmacies in the 2026 financial year.

The group added that it plans to open 10 differentiated concept stores, which will be piloted in the second half of the year.

The group said that its subsidiary, United Pharmaceutical Distributors (UPD), recently acquired a medical consumables business and will be launching this offering to customers.

The group added that capital expenditure of R1.3 billion is planned for the 2026 financial year, which includes R663 million for new stores and pharmacies and the refurbishment of 80 – 90 stores.

The group opened its 1,000th store in the interim period, bringing its footprint to 1,003, while the national pharmacy network expanded to 795.

Clicks ClubCard grew its active membership by 800,000 to 12.9 million, accounting for 83.7% of Clicks’ sales. Loyalty members received R527 million in cashback rewards during the interim period.

The group added that it remains committed to achieving its medium-term financial targets, as well as its medium-term store target of 1,200 stores.

Clicks financials

Despite constrained consumer spending and internal systems challenges, Clicks said that it delivered a resilient performance.

Clicks delivered a resilient performance, with pharmacy sales increasing by 8.6% and retail pharmacy market share strengthening to 24.9% from 24.2% in the prior period.

The group said that its retail turnover was impacted by delays in the implementation of the
Clicks distribution centre in Cape Town.

This reduced product availability in Western Cape and Eastern Cape stores, notably during the festive season.

Management believes that the systems delay reduced retail turnover by about R175 million (0.9% of retail sales).

The group said that product availability improved steadily and returned to targeted levels by the end of February. It added that trading was further impacted by aggressive competitor festive discounting.

While UPD saw strong growth in wholesale and preferred supplier bulk distribution turnover, UPD remains constrained in the hospital and independent channels.

Group turnover increased by 7.4% to R24.9 billion, with retail turnover, which includes Clicks, UniCare, The Body Shop and Sorbet corporate stores, increasing by 5.4%.

Turnover in comparable stores grew by 3.1%, and selling price inflation averaged 2.3% for the six-month period. Total income grew by. 6.5% to R7.6 billion.

Headline earnings grew by 6.4% to R1.5 billion, with basic earnings per share increasing by 8.3% to 653 cents. Headline earnings per share increased by 8.1% to 653 cents, benefiting from a share buyback.

The group returned R2.3 billion to shareholders in dividend payments totalling R1.5 billion and share buybacks of R752 million.

Looking ahead, the group’s directors forecast that the group’s diluted HEPS for the financial year ending 31 August 2026 will increase by between 4% and 9% relative to the 2025 financial year