A muted set of annual results from SPAR, in a year which started bad and got worse for everyone in the industry. Turnover was up +2.9% R127.9bn for the year through September, but it was very much a game of two halves: turnover grew +7.9% in the first half but was weighed down heavily by the civil unrest and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 in the second. Once again, solid performances by Build it (up +23.5% to R9.8bn) and TOPS (+11.2% to R7.2bn) kept the turnover numbers in positive territory. Operating profit was down -1.5% to R3.4bn for the year, as expenses grew +5.3%. On the upside, footprint grew this year, despite 53 stores remaining closed after July’s looting and arson, and refurbishments continued at a cracking pace. In Europe, the business continued to advance, with sales up modestly in Ireland and Switzerland but more dramatically in Poland, growing +10.8% despite major challenges. In the next few weeks, SPAR will be rolling out its SPAR2U delivery service with an as-yet-anonymous logistics partner, operating mainly via a fleet of e-bikes.

Comment: A tough year for a great South African business, which seems to have borne the brunt of July’s civil unrest. For more on these results, click here.

A trading update from Woolies this week, and it’s not the picture of ebullience and bonhomie we’d like to see, with turnover, they say, declining -4.5% for the 20 weeks through the middle of November. Sales here in the Beloved Country were not too bad, considering: the Food business grew turnover +3.2%, and in a significant switcheroo, Fashion, Beauty and Home grew sales +7.4%. Speaking of roos, sales Down Under disappointed, dropping by -17% at David Jones and -5.9% at Country Road as the Australian and New Zealand governments imposed lockdowns that impacted the bricks and mortar stores which make up 70% of turnover in those benighted regions. Back home again, and online sales grew by +26.4% over the 20 weeks in question, as the same-day Woolies Dash delivery service kicked into gear. The Dapper One does warn, however, that it is not entirely sanguine about prospects for the festive season, which, it says, may be weighed down by such factors as low vaccination rates, the possibility of a COVID-19 fourth wave, and ongoing power outages.

Comment: Sobering stuff. But good news on the clothing front, and online is looking promising.

In a bit of a showdown worthy of the Wild West, as it were, almost half of Shoprite’s ordinary shareholders voted at the AGM against the ongoing presence of Oom Christo Wiese on the board. Last year, you will recall, he was deposed as Chair of the board by a majority. In other Shoprite news, its Xtra Savings rewards programmes have scooped three awards at the 2021 South African Loyalty Awards. Over to Massmart, where in the run-up to Black Friday, Saccawu has called their members out on strike, demanding a +10% wage increase for Builders workers, the reinstatement of Game employees, and – unusually for this sort of action – better car and mobile phone allowances for 170-odd Makro customer relationship officers. Happier news from Clicks, which has just awarded local natural-based hair & body-care brand Nativechild its top-performing small enterprise development (SED) supplier award in its category. Finally, all of South Africa’s major retailers are preparing to welcome punters safely into their store this Black Friday. “Even though the vaccinations are at play and is a difference from this time last year, we have to acknowledge the role that we play in society and make sure that our doors are open for our customers,” says Pick n Pay group marketing exec Andrew Mills.

Comment: An excellent approach. Be safe out there people.

In the UK, speculation is mounting that Marks & Spencer will attempt to acquire the 50% of Ocado’s UK online shopping arm it does not already own, sometime in the next four years. Our advice to Ocado, hold onto it. As the lady said, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Amazon, in the meantime, has announced that it will open 260 new cashier-less grocery stores in that sodden archipelago before the end of 2024, in its ambition to topple the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op. In the US, in a potentially floodgate-opening case, a jury in Ohio has found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties, in an opioid epidemic that caused hundreds of overdose deaths and cost the two counties about $1bn each.

Comment: To what extent are our businesses responsible for the harm we might cause, as a direct result of transactions that are factored into our sales projections? And how do we mitigate this harm, as corporate citizens?

We are hereby retiring the phrase “a year of two halves.” As in “The year under review can be characterised as a year of two halves, with a solid first half result, driven primarily by a strong first quarter, offset in part by slower top-line growth in the second half,” thank you Tiger Brands CEO Noel Doyle. Be this as it may, the Striped One delivered an increase in domestic revenue of +5% for the year through September, to R27.6bn, despite a decline in second half volumes in the Grains, Groceries, and Snacks & Treats divisions. Notwithstanding the solid increase in sales, operating profit declined -10% to R2.2bn. Factoring out the impact of July’s civil unrest and the recall of Koo and Hugo canned veggies, and it would have been looking at an increase of around +20%. It has also suffered from inflationary pressure on input costs. All of this has inspired it to look for cost savings of close on half a billion in the current financial year.

Comment: In these uncertain seas, it is indeed prudent to trim the sails.

One of the downsides of the pending acquisition of Distell by Heineken is that it removes from circulation a consistently attractive blue-chip stock in a great South African company, rendering the JSE a slightly bleaker place for investors than it already is. And sadly for these punters, Heineken has no immediate plans to list the potent R40bn regional blend it is making from the purchase of Distell and Namibian breweries. In news which has enabled us to use the word we used in our header, Nestlé is trialling vegetable-based egg (vEGGie) and shrimp (Vrimp) products in Switzerland in Germany and by all accounts is interesting in bringing these or similar offerings to the South African market. And finally, PepsiCo has announced that it will attempt to reach 50 million people to access nutritious foods by 2030 through its ‘Food for Good’ food security programme and the expansion of its affordable nutrition offerings. It has recently announced its support for the Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge, investing $100m in positive agriculture and food security initiatives.

Comment: Excellent initiatives, PepsiCo. And of course, Nestlé. Vrimp, eh? Catchy. Get that copywriter a veafood platter.

First the good news. After a nervous two years, which kicked off when we lost our last investment-grade credit rating, and our debt and revenue trajectories were at odds with each other, it seems that we are heading away from a serious fiscal crisis. This due in large part to the efforts of Treasury to rein in spending, including on government salaries, an unexpected collection of an extra R120bn in mining taxes, and with these efforts, the return of capital and confidence in our prospects. Next, the bad news: according to a model run by research outfit Eunomix Business & Economics Ltd., the Beloved Country is headed for lower-middle-income stasis by 2028 should we fail to arrest our political and economic decline. But this is not a fate set in stone. “South Africa is in the tremendously lucky position that it has many low-hanging growth fruits. Sectors like energy, including natural gas, transport infrastructure and agribusiness have vast potential,” says Eunomix founder Claude Baissac. “Simple steps to clarify policy and implement basic measures would immediately lead to investment, and thus jobs and growth.”

Comment: In this scenario, the efforts of treasury – and indeed of us in the business sector – become ever more urgent.