SPAR’s interims were in this week and after the recent gloom they came as a moderately-sized if not a tall drink of water: sales up 9.5% to R24billion from the DCs with net profit up 12% to R589million. And HEPS, which as anyone could tell you is the truest measure of a company’s profitability, were up at 12%. The star performer has been TOPS, with turnover up 18.2% to R1.9billion. Build it growth was down, increasing only 6.7% to R2.4billion, which is puzzling everyone, Captain Hook included, as they were “rollicking along” (his words) at about 15% until October, when labour unrest in the mines and the transport sector put everyone on edge a bit.

Comment: Solid fundamentals, dodgy economy, like pretty much everyone these days.

Three years ago, you will recall, Pick n Pay signed a memorandum of understanding with BP for the trialling as a JV of Pick n Pay Express stores in BP forecourts. Nine stores later, The Big Blue has decided to make an honest petrol giant out of BP by formalising the arrangement, and agreeing to the rollout of a whole lot more. Predictably, the analysts are not exactly hopping with glee, with no lesser a personage than our Uncle Sydney saying unkind things about the supply chain challenges of the venture. Woolies, who have been at it since the year dot with their Engen Foodstops, seem best able to make money out of their 42 sites by stocking them liberally with private label stuff.

Comment: Still, nothing ventured nothing gained, eh? Or something.

Don’t keep saying “Who?” as if you don’t know. It’s not big, and it’s not funny. Choppies, the plucky Botswana retailer which is giving SPAR a run for its money on the dusty streets of Gabs then hopping over the border to open more stores in its spare time, has got plans for further expansion into Africa and a war chest of $19.8million to back them up. On the cards is a single store in another SADC country by the end of this year (we’re thinking Namibia, but don’t quote us), then another 12 in SA – in Limpopo, Northwest and maybe the Free State, which puts them within reach of being a mid-level local player in our market. Assisting their local efforts will be the Rustenburg DC. Back home, Choppies owns 30% of the market share, with SPAR at 21%, Pick n Pay at 14%, Shoprite at 10% and the rest at 25%.

Comment: They first blipped on our radar about three or four years ago. So don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Visitors to the Trade Intelligence website today will find an exciting new feature under the Boxer Superstore section of the Trade Profiles. This is the Boxer Superstore Investor Relations page, a collection of material for those who wish to find out more about one of SA’s most dynamic and innovative retailers. The page contains links to a number of valuable resources, including the latest media releases, stories and sound bites, as well as the Boxer Trade Profile itself. “We have got a great story to tell,” says Boxer Marketing Director Andrew Mills, “And we want to share it with our friends and stakeholders – like our suppliers, property developers who are looking at Boxer as a possible anchor tenant, and the media itself.” 

Comment: To have a look at this feature, click here.

Heineken believes that the way to increase its share in the teeming continent of Africa, where it competes with Diageo and local outfit SABMiller, is to fix its sights on the ladies. This it has done successfully in the DRC, where it is punting a low-alcohol, malt-and-lemon product called Radler (translation: shandy) with some success. As an interesting aside, it will be launching the same product in Western Europe this summer. But back to Africa, where Heineken has invested $2.2billion since 2005, where beer consumption is expected to grow 50% over the next ten years and where markets such as Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia have been the main drivers of growth for the cheerful Dutch business. Heineken are also looking to expand local sourcing from 50% now to 60% in 2020.

Comment: Anything that opens up the market a bit is fine by us.

IMPERIAL Holdings continues its drive (groan) to expand in Africa with the acquisition of 49% of MDS, a logistics business in Nigeria, for a cool $26million. Last year, you may recall, although oddly we don’t, they bought RTT’s pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare supply chain business for 500million rond, giving them footprint in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and again Nigeria. MDS is itself no lightweight, with 50 DCs that serve a massive 600 towns in that chaotic yet promising African giant. Tiger Brands – who own 49% of UAC Foods in Nigeria, and who are a big customer of IMPERIAL back home, are understandably delighted by the move.

Comment: This is what we in the industry call a BFD, or Big Freakin’ Deal. It is our own personal belief that anyone who doesn’t put a bob or two of their hard-earned into logistics businesses in Africa should, respectfully, get their heads read.

Retail trade sales were up 2.8% year-on-year for the merry month of March, down from February’s growth of 3.9%, and 0.1 percentage points below the average expectations of economists, who nevertheless managed to range from a dippy 1.1% to a loony 5%, yet still all keep their jobs. And don’t get us started on the breakdown: hardware‚ paint and glass up 4.4%, retailers in textiles‚ clothing‚ footwear and leather goods up 3.8%, general dealers up 3.6% and all ‘other’ retailers‚ with 3.3%. Measured in real terms, sales declined 0.9% from February to March. All indications are that the gloomily foretold consumer slowdown is now officially underway, and the best that can be said for the numbers is that they are at least consistent in their failure to impress.

Comment: Ironmongers, cobblers and candlestick makers surprisingly don’t get a mention. Who comes up with these categories, for goodness sake?

In Nigeria, it would seem (which come to think of it is the way a lot of good stories start) that Shoprite has been targeted either by kidnappers or jihadis or disaffected residents of the Niger Delta, as part of a plot to sow disorder in Lagos. A terror cell which may or may not have been associated with warnings that bombs had been planted in an undisclosed number of Five Alive juice packs, was uncovered in the capital, with one shudders to imagine what consequences for its members.

Winter is coming, everyone. Break out the broadswords: Walmart have to choose a new king. As Mike Duke prepares to retire to some grey-walled keep by the Western Ocean, two contenders have been tapped for succession: the grizzled old warrior Bill Simon, currently heading up the US operation, and brash young upstart Doug McMillon, who has been gallivanting all over the show as international chief.