Pick n Pay cuts headline loss 31.9% to 299 million rand in first half
Key Facts
South African retailer Pick n Pay cut its headline loss by 31.9% to 299 million rand in the 26 weeks ended Aug. 30, 2026, compared with 439 million rand in the same period a year earlier. The company said on Monday that its turnaround plan gained further momentum in the first half as it sought to win back customers and return to profitability. Trading profit rose 58.1% to 490 million rand, reflecting improved operating performance during the period. The company attributed the narrower loss to improved gross margins and a strong contribution from Boxer, its discount retail arm. It said the results reflected progress in its turnaround plan, while the group’s loss showed that a return to profitability was not yet complete.
The group’s gross margin rose 0.7 percentage points to 18.8%, supported by an improved product mix and supply chains, the company said. The wider margin means the group retained a larger share of sales after the cost of goods, contributing to improved results for the period. This coincided with a 2.4% increase in total sales to 60.5 billion rand. But sales growth was uneven across the group’s two brands: Boxer sales rose 6.3%, while Pick n Pay segment sales were broadly flat. The company attributed the improved loss to margins and Boxer’s contribution combined, without attributing the margin improvement to Boxer alone.
At the Pick n Pay segment, the business cut its trading loss by 16.9% to 516 million rand in the first half, but remained a significant source of losses within the group. Company-owned supermarkets in South Africa recorded like-for-like sales growth of 2.4%, a measure comparing sales at existing stores on a comparable basis. The results highlight the gap between Boxer’s growth and broadly flat Pick n Pay segment sales at group level. They also show that reducing the core business’s loss has not ended its operating challenges, with the trading loss still at 516 million rand. These indicators are part of a broader plan the company said aims to win back customers and return to profitability.
Full-year results for fiscal 2026 provide context for the difference between the brands’ performance: Boxer sales increased 12.3% on a 52-week-to-52-week basis, while Pick n Pay sales fell 1.6%. The company attributed Pick n Pay’s decline at the time to its store network reset programme. In the subsequent first half, Boxer recorded growth of 6.3%, while Pick n Pay sales were described as broadly flat at group level. The comparison shows Boxer’s continued relative strength, alongside improved sales at Pick n Pay’s company-owned stores in South Africa during the period. The trading loss figures also show that resetting the store network has not yet eliminated losses in the core business.
The results came as South Africa’s annual consumer price inflation reached 4.5% in September 2026, up from 4.4% in August, while the price index rose 0.4% month on month. Inflation was below the 4.7% forecast by economists polled by Reuters. September’s data was published on Oct. 21, the release date rather than the month in which inflation was measured. Reuters said inflation had moved further from the central bank’s 3% target. This puts grocery retailers’ performance in the context of rising consumer prices, while the company’s own results cover the 26 weeks ended Aug. 30.