A tough set of interims for Woolies, no point in sugar coating it. Overall, turnover shrank -2.1% to R42.1bn for the six month through December, with operating profit -18.9% to R3.1bn. Operating margin at 7.9% was also down a couple points across all segments. Food sales, generally the star in the Woolworths financial firmament, were +3.5%, pipped to the post by Fashion, Beauty and Home at +3.9%. On the upside, online sales were +22.4%, contributing 13.7% to overall sales, boosted by a draconian lockdown in the blasted Antipodes. All of this was characterised by FD Reeza Isaacs, as “a solid performance in what continues to be an increasingly competitive space and against a very tough macro background” – a background whose specific features over the past couple of years do not bear repeating, and which have affected all retailers more or less equally. What next? According to Roy Bagattini, continued adherence to the Group’s 2021 strategic framework, innovation, new formats, accessibility of brands and product ranges and the pursuit of ‘white space’ opportunities, including takeaway.

Comment: The challenge for Woolies is the encroachment on its premium space by Checkers.

A very tough year for Massmart, as evinced by its latest set of results: sales -1.9% to R84.9bn for the year through December (including discontinued operations of Cambridge Food, Rhino and Massfresh), with trading profit an appalling -83.3% down to R195.4m, and a net loss of R2.2bn, down a further -25.7% from last year. The business was hit by an impairment expense of almost R1.1bn, over half of which related to an unspecified issue with its S/4 Hana ERP system software. Massmart was also a notable victim of the July unrest, with 43 stores and two DCs targeted, and nine stores still closed. What, then, is to be done? Turnaround king (and CEO) Mitch Slape still seems sanguine: “We have intensified the pivot toward growth in our core general merchandise, home improvement and wholesale food and liquor offerings,” he says. In effect, the business has decided to put it all on black, with massive expansions in the pipeline for its two most successful trading brands, Makro and Builders, which will grow footprint in the next few years, with Builders in particular increasing its footprint by as much as 50%.

Comment: It’s going to be a long hard road home for Massmart, but there is a credible plan. Hopefully the next years will provide a suitable ecosystem for its fulfilment.

Another set of interims, this time from Shoprite, which demonstrates once again that it is possible to grow a business in our difficult social and economic climate. Turnover was +10.0% to R91.1bn for the six months through December across the Group, with trading profit +14.5% to R5.4bn and margin a solid 6%, up from 5.7% last year. Digging in a little, of the supermarket brands in the stable – and Checkers’ high profile notwithstanding – it was Usave which recorded the highest growth, at +12.1%, with Shoprite itself coming through at a still solid +6.8%. LiquorShop of course shot the lights out, coming off the very low base of lockdown prohibitions, and growing 49.8%. Said CEO Pieter Engelbrecht addressing the punters, “Delivering a 25.5% HEPS growth from continuing operations in such a difficult environment is a result of world-class execution of a clear plan, underscored by our daily obsession with affordability for our customers.”

Comment: Our advice to anyone flailing in the world of retail right now would be: do whatever Shoprite is doing. Although you’ll have some catching up to do.

How’s the end of COVID restrictions affecting retailers in dear old Blighty? It’s a mixed bag, according to our colleagues at Kantar Retail: sales are -₤26 on average per household for the month of February, and the sale of private labels has outstripped that of brands for the first time in three months. As people take to the streets, more are picking up sarmies to go, which is clouding the picture somewhat. And the discounters are doing quite nicely, with both Aldi and Lidl growing sales +3.3% over the last three months. Also in the UK, and the US for that matter, Amazon is closing down all of its bricks and mortar book-and-gadget stores even as its Amazon Fresh grocery business takes flight. Russian discounter Mere is closing its single store in the UK and canning plans to open any more while the invasion of Ukraine rages. Tesco is boycotting various Russian goods in solidarity with the people of that embattled nation. And unrelated, Carrefour, fast becoming the most global of supermarket chains, is opening 150 stores in Israel.

Comment: Begging the question of whether the dear old Beloved Country might be worth a look for the French giant?

Let’s take a quick breeze through those Anglovaal Industries interims (AVI) interims, shall we? Because quite frankly, we are all interimmed out. “HEPS” this, “underlying” that, “continuing operations” the next thing, hacking through a hedge of financial obfuscation to get to the real story. Not, of course, that AVI are obfuscating. Here are their perfectly legible numbers: revenue +2.3% to R7.2bn some change for the six months through December, with operating profit growing by a creditable +6.7% to R1.5bn, and not having to hide behind a wall of HEPS, which as it happened was up by +6.6%. Like every business in our sector, AVI battled gamely against supply chain disruptions from COVID and the unrest of July 2021, and selling prices were up in most categories to offset higher raw material costs. “Our brands are strong and relevant,” says the business. “The Board remains confident that AVI is well equipped to continue adapting to a changing economic environment.”

Comment: The resilience and viability of our great sector remains the real story over these past difficult years.

Big up to friend of the Tatler, Nestlé’s Gordon Perrins, who opens the next chapter of his illustrious career as Business Development Manager for Mauritius and Seychelles, after a spell as Customer Business Manager out of South Africa. In other news, this year, says SAPICS pres MJ Schoemaker, the event will be more important than ever before. “The world is never going to be the same,” she avers, “But the lessons that were learnt, the new knowledge gained, and the new tools and technologies that were leveraged must be shared, to ensure that we are ready and better positioned to fight the next threat.” Which, you may have noticed, is already upon us. Further afield, Unilever has become the first global food business to publicly report the performance of its product portfolio against at least six different government-endorsed Nutrient Profile Models (NPM) as well as its own Highest Nutritional Standards (HNS) – both globally and in 16 of its key markets. Finally, a recap of those RCL FOODS interims: revenue +9.2% to R17.1bn largely due to improved volumes and prices in chicken, improved pricing in groceries and higher Vector Logistics revenue, with HEPS – a widely accepted measure of profitability – increasing +21.6%.

Comment: Welcome back, SAPICS. It’s not hyperbole to say that critical thought and connection around the supply chain are essential to our success as a species, and as a world.

Some extremely relevant numbers from the office of Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, who has gazetted the new sectoral determinations for workers in South Africa’s wholesale and retail sectors. The country is divided into two types of area – A and B – according to relevant criteria; here are a couple of key positions and the remuneration they should attract according to the Minister:

Area A           Area B

Trolley Collector              R4,521.70     R4,521.70
Security Guard                 R4,521.70     R4,521.70
Cashier                             R5,003.32     R4,521.70
Sales Assistant               R5,888.55     R5,188.55
Assistant Manager        R8,514.99      R7,413.22
Manager                          R9,337.83      R8,039.22

According to Woolies, which has recently launched its Just Wage initiative to close the salary gap between workers and management, the retail minimum was around R28.25 an hour at the beginning of last year.

Comment: Some thought provoking figures. Income inequality is increasingly a flashpoint in many of the world’s economies, particularly our own.