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Those Clicks numbers then that they hinted at a couple weeks ago, but have now been revealed to a waiting world in all their glory. Just, wow: Group revenue up +7.7% to R33.37bn for the year, with gross profits up +8.5% at R6.7bn, and something they’re calling total profit up +16% at R1.7bn. And if you happened to have a couple of shares squirreled away under the mattress, good for you: the cash-flush business has declared a dividend of R1.2bn, having forked over R2.8bn in February to staff as its successful broad-based black economic empowerment share ownership scheme was vested. Some other numbers: 8.1 million, the number of members of the venerable but still successful ClubCard programme, which accounts for 78% of sales, and +10.5%, the amount by which retail health and beauty sales increased. 27%: the market share of pharma distributor UPD, up from 26% last year. And 300, the number of locations Clicks have identified for potential stores, which would bring the total to over 1,000. For more numbers and insights, visit our Results One Pager here.

Comment: A business that continues to deliver, to shoppers and shareholders alike, year after year.

A very tidy set of interims from Pick n Pay, with turnover up +6% and trading profit +12.5% for the six months through September, a success they attribute to the centralisation of their distribution facilities – so long resisted! – and to the use of data analytics to monitor shopper trends. This latter has helped them shape a targeted approach to stock purchasing, helping them optimize their range in a challenging trading climate. “It enables us to eliminate more waste and ensure we’re providing more of what the customers want,” explains Mr. Brasher. This is in part reflected in the trading margins, which has inched northward to 2.7% from 2.6% for the comparable period last year – solid stuff, although rival Shoprite manages 5%. Like-for-like volumes were up +1.3% – very good for a difficult period. Under Brasher, punters have seen their shares increase in value to the tune of +39%, second only to SPAR at +64%. During the period in question, Pick n Pay added 63 stores to its bag, spending R750m plus on refurbs, expansions, supply chain capability and infrastructure, with a further R1bn+ planned for the rest of the year.

Comment: A South African institution hitting its stride once more. Great to see.

More on that deceptively simple new Checkers Xtra Savings rewards programme, and by way of that, more on their spanking new IT System on which they’ve spent blood and treasure in equal measure. The programme is similar to Woolies WRewards and the SPAR Rewards programmes, offering discounts on specific products each week. It also gives punter the chance to opt in to a charitable donation, to organizations like the Lunchbox Fund, Food & Trees for Africa or NSPCA using its ‘Swipe For Good’ function. What the programme doesn’t have as yet is tons of useful shopper data, like Pick n Pay Smart Shopper does on its +7 million active members. This is likely to change pronto: with Tesco’s customer data science supplier dunnhumby in the driving seat, Shoprite clearly has big plans for technology. And while the IT overhaul has been both expensive and disruptive, it may yet pay dividends. “Going forward,” says the Big Red One, “We will learn more about our customers from every change we make, allowing us to improve incrementally every day.”

Comment: With Checkers in the loyalty game, the stakes have just got a little higher.

We remember when Chappies was two for a cent, but can’t remember when last we had one, or what it cost. Go figure. Be that as it may, Chappies is turning 70 this year, having been invented by Chapelat factory cost accountant Arthur Ginsburg in the late 40’s. To make the brand more appealing to kids by the novel means of offering them a stealthy education on the sly, he suggested the facts, initially sourced from radio game show Test the Team on Springbok Radio, be printed on the back of the wrapper. Later, they bought facts in bulk from the University of the Witwatersrand, which led, briefly to the publication of such facts as “Did you know? ATP and NADPH are used to convert the 3-PGA molecules into molecules of a three-carbon sugar, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.” The brand, now owned by Mondelēz through Cadbury’s, is still doing a roaring trade in knowledge, with a 2012 competition receiving no fewer than 50,000 submissions.

Comment: An iconic South African brand. Perhaps the iconic South African brand?

Tough times for AB InBev, which missed its revenue and profit targets for the quarter through September, largely as a result of declines in China and the US primarily driven by something they’re calling shipment phasing impacts. We think this probably means “not having beer where you want it when you need it,” or as we call it, II a.m. on a Tuesday. Elsewhere they’re doing fine, with sales of brands like Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, increasing by 4.1 percent globally, and strong growth recorded in markets like Mexico, South Africa and Colombia. The relatively poor performance led to a big drop in the share price, with a decline of R200bn in the Big Feller’s market cap in literal minutes. They believe however, that a stronger expected performance through the rest of the year should see the business return to moderate profitability.

Comment: Perhaps they were better off when they were the world’s two biggest brewers…

The bearded sages over at StatsSA have let it be known that inflation in South Africa continues its downward trajectory, declining to 4.1% last month, the 13th month in a row it has been below the top section of the Reserve Bank’s targeted band, and a clear indication that the aforementioned Bank might be willing to give the embattled citizenry another rate cut. The slowdown was partially driven by food inflation, at 3.9%, and transport, at 2.4%, themselves accounting for a significant chunk of household spending. All well and good. But despite the fact that almost no-one thinks we’re going to be downgraded by Moody’s, and that staying put at our current rating could be a shot in the arm for the dear old ZAR, business confidence has declined to its lowest rate this year, almost as if Black Friday wasn’t just around the corner. The slump was driven by a weakening in the confidence of the manufacturing sector.

Comment: Mixed news then. But while things are not as they should be, there are pockets of stability and hope.