{"id":825480,"date":"2025-05-26T08:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=825480"},"modified":"2025-05-26T08:28:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:28:20","slug":"another-huge-loss-for-pick-n-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/825480\/another-huge-loss-for-pick-n-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Another huge loss for Pick n Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pick n Pay has announced a total attributable loss to shareholders of R736 million for the 2025 financial year, though this reflects a significant improvement from the R3.3 billion loss seen a year prior.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group said that FY25 has marked a turning point for the group, as the Pick n Pay segment executed the initial leg of its operational and financial recovery.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This included a R4 billion rights offer and the R8.5 billion raised through the IPO of Boxer, whose market cap of R30 billion is larger than Pick n Pay\u2019s R21 billion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Company-owned Pick n Pay supermarkets saw a like-for-like sales revival, with turnover up 3.3% following the previous year\u2019s 1.2% decline.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pick n Pay segment also reduced its trading loss to R549 million from R1.5 billion in FY24, and returned to a trading profit in H2 FY25.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, the group delivered a much-improved FY25 result, with its loss before tax and capital items of R237 million much narrower than the loss of R1.4 billion in FY24.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recovery was driven by a R1.0 billion year-on-year drop in the Pick n Pay segment trading loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was supported by a 2.3% net interest paid reduction as the recapitalisation made its initial impact on debt service costs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Group turnover also increased by 5.6% to R118 billion, with 13.2% growth from Boxer and 1.9% growth from the Pick n Pay segment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gross profit margin also expanded by 0.3% to 18.4%, with gross profit in rand terms increasing by 7.3% year-on-year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other income grew by 11.6%, with trading expenses increasing by just 1.9%, due to a flat occupancy charge and a sharp drop in its credit loss allowance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the group\u2019s trading profit of R1.8 billion, Boxer\u2019s R2.3 billion trading profit was negatively impacted by Pick n Pay\u2019s R549 million loss.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notably, the group\u2019s net finance costs decreased by 2.1% as the benefit for lower bank interest expense was offset by increased IFRS 16 lease interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was due to the Boxer store rollout and the distribution network expansion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This reduced the group\u2019s loss before tax and capital items from R1.4 billion in FY24 to R237 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, the group\u2019s non-cash asset impairment charges also dropped significantly from R294 million in FY24 to R3.0 billion in FY25.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the Boxer IPO, the group reported a non-controlling or minority interest for the first time, at R85 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This increased the group\u2019s attributable loss to shareholders from its loss for the period of R651 million to R736 million.&nbsp;This is, however, far better than the R3.3 billion in FY24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><div class=\"table-responsive\"><table class=\"table\" class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Financials<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>FY24<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>FY25<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>% Change<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Turnover<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R112.3 billion<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R118.6 billion<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+5.6%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Trading profit<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R405 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R1 759 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+334.3%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Loss before tax and capital items<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-R1 421 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-R237 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+83.3%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Attributable loss after tax<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-R3 301 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-R736 million<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+77.7%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Basic loss per share (EPS)<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-581.85 cents<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-111.01 cents<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-80.9%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Headline loss per share (HEPS)<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-172.21 cents<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-61.54 cents<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">-64.3%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Outlook<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After strengthening its balance sheet via its recapitalisation plan, the group is now focusing on Pick n Pay&#8217;s further operational recovery while Boxer executes its growth strategy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like the Pick n Pay business, several crucial milestones were achieved in FY25, such as closing or converting 40 loss-making SA supermarkets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the FY25 trading loss reduction, the Pick n Pay segment still produced a material loss, particularly when considering lease interest expense.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe path back to break-even, profitability and ultimately long-term sustainable success is clear; and will be executed on in a considered and methodical manner,\u201d said the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHowever,<strong> it will take longer than initially envisaged<\/strong>, as the chosen strategy is to build retail muscle memory for long-term success.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, the group no longer expects the Pick n Pay segment to break even on a trading profit-after-lease-interest basis in FY27, pushing it back a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the group&#8217;s challenges, it anticipates further profit recovery within the Pick n Pay segment over the next two financial years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be driven by further operational progress and the substantial FY25 debt service charge becoming net interest income in FY26.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 8 weeks following the end of the period, the Pick n Pay segment&#8217;s South African turnover grew 0.8%, with like-for-like sales up 3.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Company-owned supermarket like-for-like sales grew to 4.0%, while franchise continued its like-for-like sales recovery to +2.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regarding the group\u2019s management, CEO Sean Summer has extended his stay with the group until 2028.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe ultimate success of my tenure will be judged in 5- and 10-year&#8217;s time, as today&#8217;s efforts to rebuild retail capacity and excellence bear fruit,\u201d said Summers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pick n Pay has narrowed its losses from 2024 and is on the path to recovery \u2014 but it says it will take longer than expected to reach break-even and long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":811720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[6655,4067],"class_list":["post-825480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-boxer","tag-pick-n-pay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825480"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825496,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825480\/revisions\/825496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}