So here we are again, in the midst of results season. Hasn’t time flown etc? And my, hasn’t Woolworths gotten big this last year! Group sales up 16.4% to R72.1billion, and operating profit an absolutely whacking 24.7% to R6.97billion. Clothing and GM was up 8.2%, or 4.4% in like-store sales, while Food came in rather handsomely at 11.9% and 5.7% respectively. And Down Under, David Jones grew sales at 8.4%, and 7% in like stores. What to say? Well, once again, Woolies have proven themselves resilient in tough times, trading as they do on the fortunes of the better-heeled among us. Food sales were ahead of the market, and in the face of the drought and a weaker rand they invested heavily in price to keep the punters coming in. And even the punters without the cash on hand kept coming: the debtor’s book grew 8.1% despite tightening regulations. 

Comment: Even the gimlet-eyed men and women in the analysts’ seats were observed to weep on the announcement of these results.

The Massmart interims: total sales up 8.7% to R42.3billion, with operating profit before interest up 19.5% to R819.1million. Breaking it down, Massdiscounters (Game, Dion Wired) grew sales 7.6%. Massbuild grew 5.8%, Masscash (Cambridge, Rhino, Shield) grew a pleasing 10.3%, with Masswarehouse, the Makro-housing stalwart of the business up 9.2%. 

Comment: And there, in a nutshell, you have it.

“What would you benefit by putting Anglo American and Toyota together?” asked a magnificently oblique Whitey Basson, when quizzed by reporters about a speculative merger between Shoprite and furniture giant Steinhoff. Kicking the question up the tree, he suggested that Oom Christo would be the man to ask about such a deal. Oom C said with equal impenetrability that theories about such a deal “may be as right as they are wrong”, like the cat in Schrödinger’s speculative box. In the “for” column is the fact that Steinhoff is looking to double its value in the next five years, and that Shoprite’s furniture division could use a little help. Also, of course, that Oom Christo is a pivotal figure in both businesses. In the “against”, would be the fact that Shoprite is doing just fine on its own.

Comment: Amidst all the brouhaha in the press about this potential transaction, Whitey let slip the fact that Shoprite is looking once more to open shop in India, and to expand to markets like Vietnam and Cambodia. There, now, is a story.

Steeping deeper into Woolies territory, Checkers has just launched a new range of convenience meals for the discerning punter. Endorsed by the no less august a body than the South African Chefs Association (SACA) – who have also given the nod to the butchery department’s premium pork and aged beef cuts – the Ready-to-Cook range offers such choice selections as slow-cooked lamb shanks, oxtail and Malay chicken curry. Checkers is the first retailer to enjoy the SACA vote of confidence, and is launching a new series of TV ads in celebration. These will star such luminaries as Jenny Morris, Peter Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng and Bertus Basson. 

Comment: Look, to be honest, this does somewhat have the ring of a commercial rather than a spontaneous endorsement. Even so, it’s a bold investment in the ongoing business of positioning Checkers as a destination for the serious foodie.

It is the intention of IMPERIAL Holdings, says CEO Mark Lamberti, to grow the company’s logistics business by acquisitions, the overwhelming majority of which will be offshore. Part of the reason for this, says Don Marco, is simply that IMPERIAL has such an extensive share of the South African market that there is very little room for it to grow. They’re also keen to find markets where the volatility of the local currency is not as much of an issue as it is back home. In the year to June, IMPERIAL Logistics turned over R47.9billion with operating profit of R2.5billion. While no European acquisitions are as yet on the cards, it is possible that some may be forthcoming in SADC or in east or west Africa in the next 12 months. In the meantime, the business has been on a bit of a selling tear, disposing of 29 underperforming businesses.

Comment: This next act of Mr Lamberti’s business life is turning out to be a bit of a scorcher.

Who? You ask. Aha. Yes, well. Ascendis used to be the third largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in South Africa, and then it went and overtook Adcock Ingram and now occupies the second position. This after its recent acquisitions of Cypriot pharmaceutical maker Remedica and Euro sports-nutrition outfit Scitec, giving the business a value of R11billion all in, compared with Adcock’s R8.25billion. But don’t weep for Adcock just yet. After last year’s unseemly wrought over ownership, won by Bidvest rather than that dodgy Chilean crew, things are going rather, erm, well for them: Turnover up 7.5% to R5.5billion for the 12 months through June, with trading profit up 16.9% to R606million. OTC performed particularly nicely for the business, contributing around 30% to sales but almost two thirds of operating profit.

Comment: Ascendis’ CEO rejoices in the delightfully appropriate name Dr Karsten Wellner.

The good news is that the dear old CPI has once again subsided, hitting 6% YoY for the month of July, or the upper limit of the Reserve Bank’s targeted band. The bad is that food inflation is trucking along at 11%, with vegetables up 15.5%, making even the basics increasingly unaffordable for poorer South Africans. Worse news is that Pravin Gordhan, who has become an improbably swashbuckling figure in the last few days for South Africans craving change, says that economic growth is unlikely to hit much above 0% this year. On the upside (and assuming the Gordhan affair is amicably resolved there might still be one) is that with inflation coming back under control, the Reserve Bank might do us all a solid and spare us a rate hike in the next round of deliberations.  

Comment: A harrowing ambit, but one that is nevertheless pregnant with the promise of a better day, as South Africans of every stripe unite behind principals like decency and integrity, and those who embody them.

Even as South African retailers increase their overseas footprint, the footprints of foreign CEOs in the plush carpeting of corner offices nationwide grow more numerous. Which is a hopelessly convoluted, yet intriguing way of announcing that one Albert Voogd of (where else with a name like that) the Netherlands has just been appointed CEO of Massdiscounters. Mr Voogd comes courtesy of Ahold, where he worked in various capacities and many geographies for 20 years across both food and GM. Congrats and enjoy!

FVC, as they are known by the acronymically-inclined, have been given the nod by the Competition Commission for the acquisition of Glen Aire Butcheries, which currently operate the meat counter on FVC stores and Food Lover’s Markets nationwide. If we were given to jargon, we’d probably nod sagely and mutter something about vertical integration.