{"id":52267,"date":"2025-04-16T16:24:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T16:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=52267"},"modified":"2025-04-17T08:01:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T08:01:59","slug":"clicks-to-open-up-to-55-new-stores-despite-economic-headwinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/clicks-to-open-up-to-55-new-stores-despite-economic-headwinds\/","title":{"rendered":"Clicks to open up to 55 new stores despite economic headwinds"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

The Clicks Group plans to open up to 55 new chain stores and an equal number of pharmacies this year as it continues on an ambitious expansion plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

This move comes despite facing a challenging economic landscape marked by increased value-added tax (VAT) and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, particularly related to the country’s trade relations with the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clicks said on Wednesday that it remained \u201c<\/span>committed to its medium-term target<\/span>\u201d<\/span> of 1 200 new<\/span> <\/span>stores after it opened 29 new pharmacies to date in the current financial<\/span> year. The chain opened its 950th store in February and extended its national pharmacy footprint to 740.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pharmaceuical group’s positive outlook is despite t<\/span>he looming geopolitical risks that could affect South Africa\u2019s economic performance<\/span> weighed down by depressed consumer spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The trading environment will remain constrained in the second half of the<\/span> <\/span>2025 financial year, with consumer spending expected to be impacted by<\/span> <\/span>the VAT rate increase effective from 1 May 2025. In addition, ongoing<\/span> <\/span>global uncertainty and geopolitical risks could adversely affect the<\/span> <\/span>country\u2019s macroeconomic outlook<\/span>,\u201d said the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Clicks has forecast an increase of between 11% and 16% in its <\/span>diluted <\/span>headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the full year to August 2025 compared to the previous year. <\/span><\/p>\n

This increase in HEPS is against the backdrop of anticipation that the <\/span>retail environment <\/span>will remain \u201c<\/span>constrained in H2 2025<\/span>\u201d while \u201c<\/span>the VAT rate increase is expected to impact<\/span>\u201d<\/span> consumer spending<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the half year period to February 2025, Clicks managed to grow its market share in the <\/span>core health and beauty<\/span> <\/span>categories,<\/span> with increased contributions from p<\/span>rivate label products<\/span>. S<\/span>trengthening margins and robust cash flows<\/span> were also recorded for the period.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Clicks reported strong growth in front shop health and pharmacy, higher<\/span> <\/span>sales of private label products and increased promotional sales<\/span>,\u201d it said.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, r<\/span>etail costs grew by 8.5% mainly due to a higher wage increase and the<\/span> <\/span>resumption of pharmacy openings<\/span>. Higher <\/span>electricity, card<\/span> <\/span>acquiring and advertising costs<\/span> also contributed to the surge in retail costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retail turnover, which includes Clicks, The Body Shop, M-Kem and Sorbet corporate stores, <\/span>increased by 6.4% over the half year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Distribution costs <\/span>for the half-year grew by <\/span>1.6% as the higher employment costs <\/span>to maintain service levels during the systems implementation in the<\/span> <\/span>previous year were removed.<\/span><\/p>\n

This meant Clicks\u2019 <\/span>trading profit<\/span> for the interim period surged by <\/span>12.6% <\/span>at <\/span>R2.1 billion<\/span> while the <\/span>group\u2019s <\/span>trading margin increased by 60 basis points to 9.1%.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company opted to declare an<\/span> interim gross ordinary dividend<\/span> <\/span>of 238 cents per share<\/span> compared to <\/span>210 cents per share<\/span> in the previous comparative period. It said dividends for the period under reviewed will be paid from d<\/span>istributable reserves<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Group turnover<\/span> for the period grew <\/span>6.2%<\/span> while d<\/span>iluted headline earnings per share <\/span>firmed <\/span>up 13.2%<\/span>. <\/span>Inventory levels increased by 5.1% and group inventory days were one day <\/span>lower at 85 days. <\/span><\/p>\n

Consequently, th<\/span>e group\u2019s net working capital days increased from 44 <\/span>to 45 days<\/span> while c<\/span>ash generated by operations after working capital changes totalled <\/span>R1.7bn.<\/span><\/p>\n

A total of R222 million in <\/span>Capital expenditure <\/span>wa<\/span>s reinvested mainly<\/span> <\/span>in new stores and pharmacies, store refurbishments, supply chain and<\/span> <\/span>information technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Clicks ClubCard grew its active loyalty membership to 12.1 million<\/span> after <\/span>adding <\/span>up <\/span>over 1 million new members in the past year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>ClubCard accounted<\/span> <\/span>for 81.6% of sales in Clicks and members were rewarded with R438m <\/span>in cashback over the six-month period<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Clicks Group plans to open up to 55 new chain stores and an equal number of pharmacies this year as it continues on an ambitious expansion plan.This move comes despite facing a challenging economic landscape marked by increased value-added tax (VAT) and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, particularly related to the country’s trade relations with the United States.Clicks said on Wednesday that it remained \u201ccommitted to its medium-term target\u201d of 1 200 new\u00a0stores after it opened 29 new pharmacies to date in the current financial year. The chain opened its 950th store in February and extended its national pharmacy footprint to 740.The pharmaceuical group’s positive outlook is despite the looming geopolitical risks that could affect South Africa\u2019s economic performance weighed down by depressed consumer spending.\u201cThe trading environment will remain constrained in the second half of the\u00a02025 financial year, with consumer spending expected to be impacted by\u00a0the VAT rate increase effective from 1 May 2025. In addition, ongoing\u00a0global uncertainty and geopolitical risks could adversely affect the\u00a0country\u2019s macroeconomic outlook,\u201d said the company.Nonetheless, Clicks has forecast an increase of between 11% and 16% in its\u00a0diluted\u00a0headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the full year to August 2025 compared to the previous year. This increase in HEPS is against the backdrop of anticipation that the retail environment\u00a0will remain \u201cconstrained in H2 2025\u201d while \u201cthe VAT rate increase is expected to impact\u201d\u00a0consumer spending.Over the half year period to February 2025, Clicks managed to grow its market share in the\u00a0core health and beauty\u00a0categories,\u00a0with increased contributions from private label products. Strengthening margins and robust cash flows\u00a0were also recorded for the period.\u201cClicks reported strong growth in front shop health and pharmacy, higher\u00a0sales of private label products and increased promotional sales,\u201d it said.However, retail costs grew by 8.5% mainly due to a higher wage increase and the\u00a0resumption of pharmacy openings. Higher\u00a0electricity, card\u00a0acquiring and advertising costs\u00a0also contributed to the surge in retail costs.Retail turnover, which includes Clicks, The Body Shop, M-Kem and Sorbet corporate stores, increased by 6.4% over the half year.Distribution costs\u00a0for the half-year grew by\u00a01.6% as the higher employment costs to maintain service levels during the systems implementation in the\u00a0previous year were removed.This meant Clicks\u2019\u00a0trading profit for the interim period surged by\u00a012.6%\u00a0at\u00a0R2.1 billion\u00a0while the\u00a0group\u2019s trading margin increased by 60 basis points to 9.1%.The company opted to declare an\u00a0interim gross ordinary dividend\u00a0of 238 cents per share\u00a0compared to\u00a0210 cents per share in the previous comparative period. It said dividends for the period under reviewed will be paid from distributable reserves.Group turnover\u00a0for the period grew\u00a06.2%\u00a0while diluted headline earnings per share\u00a0firmed\u00a0up 13.2%.\u00a0Inventory levels increased by 5.1% and group inventory days were one day lower at 85 days.\u00a0Consequently, the group\u2019s net working capital days increased from 44 to 45 days\u00a0while cash generated by operations after working capital changes totalled R1.7bn.A total of R222 million in\u00a0Capital expenditure\u00a0was reinvested mainly\u00a0in new stores and pharmacies, store refurbishments, supply chain and\u00a0information technology.The\u00a0Clicks ClubCard grew its active loyalty membership to 12.1 million\u00a0after\u00a0adding\u00a0up\u00a0over 1 million new members in the past year.\u201cClubCard accounted\u00a0for 81.6% of sales in Clicks and members were rewarded with R438m in cashback over the six-month period.\u201dBUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52268,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52267\/revisions\/52268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}