Bit of a bait and switch there from the Men in Black, who just the other day were touting their slow and steady approach to Africa as the strategy of their dreams. Now, according to Mr Hayward, Africa is in fact the place, with 11 new stores planned for the next two years, a space increase of 26%, and diversification into other brands and formats in the 13 countries in which they already trade. This at the results presentation, where they also mentioned that sales rose 7.7% to R91.3billion for the year through December, with like-store growth running at 5.4% against internal inflation of 6.7%. Within that, food and liquor sales rose 11.7%, while GM grew just 1.5% in the face of depressed consumer spending. Beyond our borders, different story: growth hit 11.2% in rands, while like-store growth stood at 3.1%. And with the business cutting costs where they can, margins were up nicely across the business, with Massdiscounters trading profit up a whacking 54.8%.

Comment: While Massmart have never been the business to toot their own horn as it were, they rarely get rattled either. These results speak of a business proceeding with both caution and confidence.

“Match the taste and quality of the market leader at better value.” Thus spake Checkers recently, in the tones of Agent Smith from the Matrix saying “Aaah, Mr Anderson.” And these deceptively mild words were spoken in the direction of Woolworths, after whose slice in the convenience market Checkers is now coming. Shoprite have noticed apparently, that there is a “trend towards fresh, convenience and added-value foods,” but don’t let their late entry to this thriving global market lull you into a false sense of security. Since picking up on this hot new trend in 2016, it has launched 135 convenience lines in its stores, from ready-to-bake pizzas to prepared veggies. Woolies ofcourse has gone in the opposite direction, supplementing its convenience lines with a more traditional supermarket offering. Currently, Woolies owns a 67.1% slice of the LSM 8 to 10 market; Checkers is not that far behind at 44.7%.

Comment: The old Shoprite killer instinct; always seeking the next target in a zero-sum game of market domination.

Not giving up on Zimbabwe by a long chalk are Pick n Pay, who are busily identifying further TM Supermarkets to be converted into Pick n Pays. This hot on the heels of the opening of a $25million shopping mall in Borrowdale by the TM/Pick n Pay Group. TM Supermarkets still has 56 stores in Zimbabwe with a spread across income brackets and across the country. It is a trusted retailer among Zimbabweans and remains the preferred outlet for many suppliers. All of which is to say that while some TMs will soon be wearing the red, white and blue, not all of them will: TM as a trading brand is rooted deep in the rich red soil of its motherland. Although the technical expertise and South African purchasing power of Pick n Pay hasn’t hurt the business.

Comment: How many years ago did we all write Zim off? Not Pick n Pay.

Last week we learned two things about Unilever – 1. that Kraft Foods wanted to buy the hell out of the business, but couldn’t, and b. that Kraft was doubly as profitable as Unilever, which is currently running at a still-respectable margin of 15%. OK, that’s technically three, but who’s counting? It all begs the inevitable question: whither the Grand Bleu? “The events of the last week have highlighted the need to capture more quickly the value we see in Unilever,” the company said in a tersely worded statement last Wednesday. This, say pundits, points to a strategic review which might see the business disposing of some of its non-core assets – for example, spreads, according to sources of the sort who are popping up all over the White House like spring daffodils these days.

Comment: A little bit of reinvention never hurt anyone, if judicious and timely.

This is just plain wrong: a well-run business which saw the writing on the wall, took the necessary defensive measures, diversified and innovated, recruited the best people and is posting a 44.8% decline in its headline earnings per share for the six months through December. And yet here we are. While RCL FOODS’ revenue rose marginally by 1.6% to R13.1billion, part of the decline in profitability is the result of a R142.2million impairment of plant and equipment related to the decision to reduce commodity chicken volumes in the face of cheap imports, and part is due to a foreign exchange loss of R27.9million. Imports increased by 26% year-on-year in volume in 2016, coming in at the rate of 10.3million birds a week, with the EU providing most of those.

Comment: We like a free market as much as the next man, unless he happens to be Donald Trump or Rex Tillerson. But what we’re asking the government is not protection, it’s defence – of South African businesses and South African livelihoods.

Look, we can’t hope to capture the lyricism and fine moral strains of what we sincerely hope was not Minister Gordon’s  swansong last week in these meagre columns, so we’ll just give you a few of the salient numbers, instead: Projected revenue up 0.4% to R1.4trillion, thanks substantially to a 4% increase in personal income tax, projected expenditure up by 0.2% to R1.56trillion, much of that on social services, old age and disability grants up R90 per month, company tax and VAT no change, sin taxes up, up, up and quite right too, capital gains tax up but not so much that you’d notice, and dividends tax up 5%, although if you’re holding a lot of retail stock just at the moment we wouldn’t get too freaked out about that. Oh yes, and a new top tax rate of 45%, cry us a river.

Comment: Not exactly a crowd pleaser of a budget, in politically difficult times for Gordhan and economically awful times for the country.

What a cracker of an event our 2017 Independent Trade Forum turned out to be, if we may say so ourselves. Top-notch speakers, invaluable insights and meaningful engagement for both sides of the industry. Missed it? Never mind… there’s always next year. But for a snap shot of who was there and what was said, look no further than right here.  

New Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht has let it slip that, absent the guiding hand of Steinhoff at the wheel, Shoprite itself has some fairly dramatic plans for expansion off the continent, into other emerging markets, and that to achieve this plan it might have to split into two like some predatory super organism in the primordial seas. In the meantime, 116 South African stores and 49 stores in the rest of Africa next year.

Word from a friend to the north, where for some months there has been some speculation about the fate of SPAR Zambia, which was previously owned by two shareholders, namely, Innscor Zimbabwe and Mark O’Donnel of Zambian residency. Recently, the owner of a group of SPAR stores in Botswana (about 30) took the total shares of Innscor Zimbabwe leaving Mr O’Donnel with 20% of the stock. Botswana is something of a regional player in retail these days.