* FY diluted headline EPS 157.67 vs 186.14 last year
* Analysts expected EPS of 171.5 cents
* FY sales up 8 pct to 55.3 bln rand
(Adds details, deputy CEO quotes)
JOHANNESBURG, April 18 – South Africa’s No.2 food retailer,
Pick n Pay, reported a 15 percent fall in full-year
profit on Wednesday, missing expectations, hit by costs related
to its shopper loyalty programme and investments in its supply
chain.
Pick n Pay said diluted headline earnings per share for
continuing operations fell 15.3 percent to 157.67 cents in the
year to end-February, below the average estimate of 171.52 cents
in a poll of 12 analysts by Thomson Reuters.
Headline earnings are the main profit gauge in South Africa
and exclude certain one-off and non trading items.
While consumers warm up to spending in Africa’s biggest
economy thanks to lower interest rates, Pick n Pay has yet to
see the benefits as it is spending heavily to improve its supply
chain and protect market share as competition intensifies.
“We have another two years of heavy investment in our
transformation plan, and so the degree to which we are going to
carry on growing from now on is going to be muted,” deputy CEO
Richard van Rensburg told a results presentation.
Inflationary pressure on consumers and a sluggish economy
added an “element of fragility” to recovery at the family-run
company, he added.
Continued…
