Chamwe Kaira
Pepkor Holdings Limited grew its group revenue by 12% to N$95.3 billion for the year ended 30 September.
The clothing and general merchandise segment increased revenue by 8.9% to N$66.9 billion, while the furniture, appliances and electronics segment rose by 7.2% to N$11.8 billion. Operating profit before capital items increased by 13.2% to N$11.1 billion, driven by strong trading and tight cost control.
Net finance costs grew by 4.1% to N$3 billion, supported by lower interest rates and measures that reduced funding costs.
“The group achieved strong cash generation and enhanced returns, notwithstanding the high levels of strategic investment made during the year,” said chief financial officer Riaan Hanekom.
Pepkor chief operating officer Sean Cardinaal said retail continues to generate most of the group’s revenue.
He said the core retail operations delivered steady, cash-generative growth that the group plans to expand by using its scale in fintech, telecoms and informal market offerings.
“It truly has been an exceptional year for Pepkor,” said Cardinaal.
Pepkor completed several acquisitions during the year. It bought Shoprite’s OK Furniture and House & Home businesses in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia.
It also acquired the Legit, Swagga, Style and Boardmans brands from Retailability, a Southern African retail group. These businesses operate 469 stores across South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini. Retailability’s other brands, including Edgars, Edgars Beauty, Red Square, Kelso and Keedo, were not part of the transaction.
Effective 1 October 2025, Pepkor took over 66 OK Furniture and House & Home stores in the five countries. The acquisition included inventory, fixed assets, installment sale loan books, insurance arrangements in Namibia, liabilities, staff and operating processes.
Effective 1 June, the group acquired Choice Clothing, a discount fashion retailer with more than 100 stores in South Africa and Namibia.
“The purchase price for this acquisition was N$218 million,” Pepkor said. The businesses were bought from Good Hope Sales Cape Proprietary Limited and Audacity Clothing (Namibia) Proprietary Limited.
Pepkor Lifestyle now operates more than 900 stores in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini.
The group said it has built strong capabilities in supply chains, logistics, and financial services. Headline earnings per share increased by 14.8% to 161 cents. On a normalised basis, HEPS rose by 23.4% when excluding the effect of last year’s lower tax rate. Inventory increased by 6.3% to N$18.6 billion due to a larger store network and the introduction of new retail formats, Ayana and Choice.
