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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group also recorded record Black Friday sales and strong customer demand for Christmas gifting ranges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retail turnover was impacted by aggressive competitor discounting activity over the festive trading period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Management said the impact of the system’s delay on retail sales was R120 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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