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Over at the verdant one, turnover grew 12.2% to R43.2bn with profit before tax up 8.1% to R1.5bn, a result which the phlegmatic Captain Hook has described as “a solid performance, not a spectacular one.” But there were nevertheless spots of spectacularity within that: TOPS, for eg, grew sales 21.2% to R5bn, while Build it upped turnover by 17% to R7.5bn. SPAR stores were indeed more solid, ahem, with turnover up 11.5% to R53.7bn (anyone, anyone? Yes that’s right: the overall result is smaller because it reflects SPAR’s sales to those stores, not from them, clever) in a competitive environment with rattled punters. During the year, which ended in September, SPAR added 23 new stores for a total of 868 and a 3.2% increase in retail space, and upgraded 147 existing ones. By contrast, TOPS added 47 stores for a total of 538, who would have thought, and Build it added 20, for a total of 281. Another highlight of the results was the rise of the house brands, which now account for R6.2bn of wholesale turnover.

Comment: Cut the green guy some slack, they’re trading very smart with an unusual model under difficult circs.

20 weeks, what is that? A seemingly arbitrary period on which the Dapper One has chosen to report, that’s what. And with these numbers, who can blame them? Sales up 16% year on year, and comparable sales 9.9%. Sales in the benighted Antipodes up 36.9%, strewth, boosted by the acquisition of Witchery. Retail space grew 5.2% for the period, against expectations of 5.4% for the full year, which is impressive. Clothing sales, about which they are particularly happy, were up 13.7% here at home, while food sales grew by 11.2% with price movement of 7.3%‚ and like store sales up 7.8%. They anticipate more of the same with the interest rate down and consumers awash in easy credit and above-inflation wage increases, although depressed consumer confidence might play merry heck with things later.

Comment: I know, I know, let’s start a business aimed at people who have got money…

And in other news of the ‘non’ variety, Clicks will not be considering another excursion to Australia, where its hopes and fortunes foundered sadly, like so many others before them, back in the year 4, when the division accounted for an expensive 20% of group revenue. Australia, you see, doesn’t permit corporate pharmacies, preferring its citizens to take what comfort they may from home-distilled goanna juice. But Africa’s still on the cards where opportunities present themselves, according to the inimitable Mr Kneale. In December, for eg, Clicks will open up its first store in Lesotho. While Clicks are fairly edgy about the legislative challenges of opening up pharmacies elsewhere, growth here at home surely has a ceiling with the likes of Dis-Chem and Shoprite muscling in on the corporate market, and they may yet take heart from healthcare businesses like Netcare and Aspen which have enjoyed success elsewhere.

Comment: Time, perhaps, to suit up and head out beyond the comfort zone.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but cheap imports are affecting Astral’s bottom line. While revenue was up a seemingly solid 13% to R8.16billion for the year ended in September, thanks to higher sales in both chickens and feed, profit was down over twice that, by 29.3%, to R477million, with the dodgy Brazilian imports, in the library. To add insult to injury, operating profit margin shrunk from 9.3% to 5.8%, as a result of feed costs which make up over 70% of import costs rising 24% at a time when Astral was able to put up chicken prices just 5% because of competition from said imports – from Brazil, yes, but even more these days from the Netherlands.

Comment: The elephant in the barn, of course, is that any mass consumption of animal protein is unsustainable – the input required (in water, grain and fuel inter alia) is too massive for any single company, country or planet to support long term, which is why it’s currently such a bumpy playing field, and why this will only get worse.

As South Africa’s largest producer of the sweet stuff, Illovo has a certain standard to maintain. This they seem to be doing, with production for the six months to September up 17% and half year operating profit increasing to R854million. Of this, 60% came from sugar production, 34% from cane growing and 6% from something mysterious they’re calling “downstream and co-generation”, although we seem to recall it had something to do with the burning of bagasse for power. And you’re loving the numbers, we can tell, so here are a couple more: Malawi contributed 43% to operating profit,  Zambia 23%, South Africa 12%, Tanzania and Swaziland 9% each and Mozambique 4%. SA’s contribution is deceptively small – it was substantially responsible for the rebound in production, and the next six months are looking even better with this near constant downpour in the green hills of Natal.

Comment: Some patchy performances outside of SA. But Africa remains a massive opportunity for our sugar barons.

“We will continue to see strong retail sales amid higher wage increases and growth in unsecured lending, which will support retail sector activity,” says überconomist Chris Hart. Retail is in good shape, and is according to Adcorp likely to add a significant number of jobs over the holiday rush to the 41,000 odd that the economy picked up in September and October. This will help to mitigate the 82,000 lost in the four months to August. In poorer shape is mining, which lost 6,000 jobs in September due mainly to strikes in the sector. But back in the house of Mr Upside, the informal sector grew 2.3% for the month, adding 12,250 jobs and outperforming everyone else.

Comment: What was the minimum wage in that sector again? Oh, yes…

Rumour has it that Pick n Pay, which has dipped a periodic toe in the turbid waters of banking, is soon to launch a mobile-only bank with MTN. Boxer are evidently a major part of the deal, which is being launched as a JV under a brand called Tyme, as spotted on a website which popped up and then was mysteriously taken down, like some rare flower that blooms briefly, and is gone with the morning dew. Intriguing, stay posted.

And what is this? Jetmart, that self proclaimed “discount homeware and DIY retailer” belonging to Edcon now appear to be selling modest food items, if their broadsheets are to be believed, and who wouldn’t believe a broadsheet. Whether this marks a more significant venture into the glamorous world of grocery retail remains to be seen.

Wholesale trade sales for the month of September, you will be marginally pleased to know, increased by 0.1% year on year compared with a revised 7.4% (7.0%) y/y growth in August‚ according to the hoary sages over at StatsSA.

Walmart workers in 1,000 stores across the US are set to strike on Friday in protest against a host of grievances including unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, sexual harassment, excessive hours, forced labour and low pay. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is a veritable orgy of deals and frenzied shopping across the US and for many of the disaffected Walmart staff the last straw came when the big feller announced its intentions to kick Black Friday off at 8pm on Thanksgiving itself, just after the turkey.