COMAPNY NEWS IN BRIEF

Shoprite pays record R3.5 billion in dividends

South Africa's biggest grocer Shoprite is paying out a record R3.54 billion to shareholder for its 2022 year, after a rebound in liquor sales and a strong performance from its core domestic supermarkets business helped lift profits by over a fifth.

Merchandise sales grew 9.6% to R184 billion in the year to 3 July and profits jumped 21.5% to R5.73 billion, Shoprite said on Tuesday, also reporting R6.2 billion worth of market share gains for its South Africa business.

The group's LiquorShop segment also saw sales jump 45.4% to R10.77 billion as Covid-19 trading restrictions eased, with Shoprite raising its total dividend 10.3% to 600c per share.

Shoprite, valued at about R140 billion on the JSE, also trades under the Checkers, Usave and Checkers Hyper banners, and its core SA business accounts for more than three quarters of its sales.

The SA business - 1 789 stores - grew sales by 10.1% to R147.4 billion, with Shoprite saying its focus on store upgrades at Checkers as well as its fresh-food offering, helped pay off with market share gains in the mid-to-upper segment of consumers

The group's on-demand grocery app, Checkers Sixty60, also continued its growth, now trading from 300 stores, from 233 in the prior year, it said.

Group sales were also lifted by additional stores, with Shoprite opening 181 stores during the year, expanding its continuing operations footprint to 2 989. Store expansion helped offset the effects on sales of the civil unrest in July 2021, which resulted in 177 stores being looted, while 54 sustained fire damage. Shoprite said on Tuesday that 37 stores remain closed, and 10 of these will not reopen. -Fin24

Truworths to rebrand remaining Primark stores

Truworths and Primark have reached an "amicable settlement" over the ownership of the name of the UK fashion retailer, with the remaining Truworths stores under the name set to be rebranded.

The JSE-listed retailer had been embroiled in a long-running dispute with the fast fashion seller's brand in a case that reached the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2019, after Truworths won an appeal to expunge Primark’s ownership of the trademark in the country.

The UK retailer had registered that name in South Africa in 1976, and renewed its registration in 1997 and 2006, filings with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission show. Truworths had also applied to trademark "Primark" for use in the clothing sector, but the application was denied.

The Primark brand that Truworths intended to establish had no connection to the UK retailer, other than using the same name, Business Insider reported.

Truworths CEO Michael Mark has revealed that the boards of the two companies have reached an "amicable settlement" over the matter, with details of the deal said to be confidential.

"Both boards are comfortable with the outcome, there is no acrimony ... we will not disclose in detail the settlement but both boards are comfortable with it," said Mark said during the presentation of the company's financial results last week. -Fin24

Trellidor profit down 99%

Rocketing steel and aluminium prices – along with the growing popularity of security estates, where Trellidor’s traditional safety barriers are less in demand – have hit the group’s latest results.

For the year to end-June, Trellidor reported a 99% decline in its headline earnings per share to 0.4c per share, from 40.8c in the previous year. Revenue fell by 1% to R513 million.

Apart from the Trellidor security door brand, the group also owns the blinds and shutter group Taylor, and NMC, a cornicing and skirting product distributor. It does business in Africa and the UK.

The company says its underperformance was largely due to big increases in the prices of steel ( 87%) and aluminium prices ( 52%) over the past two years, as well as a spike in freight costs. Its gross profit margin shrank from above 42% in the previous year to 38.4%.

"In addition, the subdued residential property market and increasing trend in estate living has had a negative impact on sales of Trellidor’s traditional product."

The group reports that economic recovery in Africa following the pandemic has been relatively slow, and sales to African countries, which represents almost 12% of Trellidor’s sales, declined by 29% over the past two years. -Fin24

Directors of the Praesidium fined

South Africa's financial regulator has fined the directors of the Praesidium group of companies millions of rands and barred them from the financial services industry for offering investments "similar in nature to a Ponzi scheme".

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) announced on Monday that its investigation of Praesidium Advisory Services, Praesidium Wealth and Praesidium Sentinel concluded that the companies contravened numerous financial sector laws. All three have already been liquidated.

In addition to the fines and debarments announced on Monday, the FSCA said it would refer the matter to police as it "seems likely that several offences have been committed, including fraud and theft."

The FCSA’s probe, which has been ongoing since September 2020, chiefly focused on foreign currency trades undertaken by Praesidium Advisory Services.

It found that the group traded forex on behalf of clients without having a licence. It also did not have the correct licence to receive client funds to invest in forex instruments.

Praesidium Advisory Services paid over the funds it received to two companies called Octox and Imagina FX, which were not authorised financial services providers. Both companies were linked to Praesidium director Craig Massyn. -Fin24