Table of Contents
Key Points
- Supermarket growth in South Africa drove 84.5% of Shoprite’s total sales, marking a fifth straight year of market share gains.
- Online orders via Sixty60 surged 47.7%, propelling Checkers and Checkers Hyper’s sales by nearly 14% in the 2025 fiscal year.
- Shoprite offloaded its furniture business and expanded logistics with full Pingo Delivery acquisition to sharpen operational focus.
Shoprite Holdings, Africa’s largest retailer and partly owned by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, reported steady sales growth for the 52 weeks ending June 29, 2025—bolstered by strong demand in its home market and recent changes to sharpen its business focus.
In a trading update, the group said merchandise sales from continuing operations rose 8.9 percent year-on-year to R262.3 billion ($14.54 billion), with most of the lift coming from its South African supermarkets, which now make up 84.5 percent of total revenue.
That core segment grew by 9.5 percent and continued to widen its share of the local market for the fifth year in a row. Based on current estimates, Shoprite expects both basic and headline earnings per share to climb by more than 20 percent, in line with disclosure rules set by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Digital, delivery bets pay off amid structural shifts
Sales at Checkers and Checkers Hyper climbed 13.8 percent, driven by a 47.7 percent surge in online orders via the Sixty60 delivery app. CEO Pieter Engelbrecht attributed the gains to the company’s expanded digital push and efforts to meet changing customer behavior.
“It’s been a year of strategic delivery,” Engelbrecht said. “We’re focused on enhancing convenience, value, and access—through digital growth, category expansion, and price leadership.” Shoprite agreed to sell its South African furniture business—excluding operations in Angola and Mozambique—to Pepkor Holdings. The transaction, pending regulatory approval, is part of a broader focus on core operations.
Inflation and share buybacks
The company also acquired the remaining 50 percent stake in its logistics unit, Pingo Delivery, as it scales last-mile capabilities amid rising demand for e-commerce. Additionally, Shoprite has classified its operations in Malawi and Ghana as discontinued, with exit processes already in motion.
The group repurchased R997 million ($55.26 million) worth of shares during the first half, at an average price of R289.29 ($16.035). Despite currency volatility and low selling price inflation of 2.3 percent, Shoprite posted like-for-like sales growth of 4.8 percent, maintaining price competitiveness.
Shoprite’s expansion and footprint
Shoprite opened 194 new supermarkets in South Africa during the year, including 43 Shoprite stores, 29 Checkers, and three Checkers Hyper outlets. Its liquor and specialty formats also grew, with Petshop Science expanding to 144 locations and fashion unit Uniq reaching 30 stores.
Across the continent, Shoprite operates over 3,600 outlets and employs more than 150,000 people. The retailer runs 268 stores in seven countries outside South Africa, with non-RSA supermarket sales rising 14.2 percent in constant currency and contributing 8.1 percent of total sales. Wiese, who owns an 11.5 percent stake, remains a key figure in the group’s long-term strategic direction. He has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
