Shoprite Sept quarter sales up 25.9%

The retailer added that the sales growth enabled it to grow market share in South Africa by 1.5%.

Internal food inflation during the review period rose to 16.5%, double the 8.2% in the corresponding period. In the month of September, food inflation eased 0.4% compared with the preceding two months.

Sales in the group's stores outside South Africa increased by 44.5% in rand terms.

This growth was affected positively by the weakening of the rand against some of the major African currencies in which it trades, Shoprite said. Trading conditions in the furniture sector, characterised by aggressive discounting and virtually nil inflation, continued to be extremely tight, it noted. The furniture division nevertheless reported a sales increase of 10.2%.

"The impact of global economic turbulence on the local market, the still high level of food inflation and the volatility of the rand against major trading currencies, make trading predictions for the nine months to June 2009 difficult," the group said.

Published courtesy of