Solid top-line growth
Group sales grew 7.2% year-on-year, adding about ZAR 9.2 billion to reach almost ZAR 137 billion for the half year; Supermarkets RSA sales grew 7.1% to ~ZAR 115 billion with like‑for‑like sales +2.7%.
Maintained margins and trading profit
Trading profit increased 5.9% to ZAR 7.7 billion with an overall H1 trading margin of 5.7%; RSA supermarkets delivered a 6.2% trading margin (described as world‑class) despite a low‑inflation/deflationary environment.
Gross profit and segment margins
Gross profit rose 7.1%; Supermarkets RSA gross margin reported at 25.3% (group gross margin ~23.8% for the six months) and management expects full‑year gross margin around 23.9%–24.2%.
Strong digital and adjacent business momentum (Sixty60 & Petshop)
Sixty60 turnover ~ZAR 11.9 billion, growing ~34.6% year‑on‑year; adjacent businesses grew 70.9% to ~ZAR 1 billion, with Petshop Science adding 45 of 53 new adjacent stores and making a meaningful contribution.
Store expansion and space growth
Opened 273 new stores in the last 12 months (262 in RSA supermarkets); space growth for the period 7.3% (driven by Checkers Hyper expansion); plan to open ~123 stores in H2.
Improved returns and shareholder returns
ROIC improved from ~17% to over 19%; returns exceeded WACC (WACC 12.3%, with ROIC/ROE materially above that); diluted headline EPS up ~7.9% and final dividend increased 7.7% to ZAR 3.07 per share.
Strong cash generation and disciplined CapEx
Cash generation from core operations ZAR 13.3 billion in H1; working capital improvements contributed ~ZAR 5.4 billion; H1 CapEx ZAR 3.9 billion (2.9% of revenue) and guidance for lower full‑year CapEx (~ZAR 7.5 billion) as management tightens spend.
Customer and volume growth
Customer visits and volumes increased: ~572 million customer visits (+>5%), serving 100+ million customers per month, sold ~4 billion items; social/affordability initiatives sold 9.5 million ZAR‑1 items and 55.6 million ZAR‑5 items.