As we informed you last week, Massmart’s results were not all that, with sales up 10% but profit declining to the mournful tune of 5.7%. “How can this be?” you cry. “What was once so young, so vital…” In a word, Game, and durable goods generally. Massmart are blaming the mining strikes, but whatever the cause, SA’s lower-to-middle income punters are battling right now, and sales have slowed on anything that can’t be eaten or drunk all across the industry. Massmart, and Game in particular, is unusually reliant on durable goods to earn its crust, and comparable sales over there grew only 0.4% for the FY, compared with a Group-wide total of 7.1%. In other news from the Massmart results, the Men in Black are investing more heavily in their property portfolio, upping their stake by 11.4% YOY and buying some significant plots, including, wait for it, their own head office premises in Sunninghill.
Comment: The fixing of Game will, we predict, be one of the more interesting stories of the next couple of years.