Retailer Pepkor – the owner of Pep, Flash, Capfin, Incredible Connection – has appointed new independent non-executive directors to its board including ICT industry veteran Isaac Mophatlane.
Today, the JSE Listed retailer Pepkor announced new five directors to its board consisting of Mophatlane, Paula Disberry, Ian Kirk, Hester Hickey, Zola Malinga.
“The appointments have been made with the objectives of enhancing and widening the skill
set of the board and to strengthen the independence and diversity components of the Board,” said the company.
Herewith below the profiles of the new non-executive directors
Mophatlane is the Managing Director of Randvest Capital and is a non-executive director of Exxaro. He is an independent non-executive director of Crossfin Technologies, a Fintech Investment holding company. Together with his late brother, Isaac co-founded BCX in 1996, which was sold to Telkom in 2016, thereby creating the largest African ICT company. Mophatlane has extensive insight into the technological developments and challenges facing companies such as Pepkor.
Kirk is a CA(SA) and FCA of the Republic of Ireland. He is currently a member of the boards of the JSE and Transaction Capital. He has held the positions of CEO of Santam and Group CEO of Sanlam which he left in December 2020. Kirk has had extensive strategic and operational management experience locally and internationally. The President of the
Republic of South Africa appointed Kirk as a member of the Presidential State-Owned
Enterprise Council in June 2020.
Disberry holds a BA and MA in Natural Sciences (Neuropsychology) from Cambridge. She has considerable retail experience, including fashion and general merchandise, through her holding senior executive management positions at Tesco, Woolworths and Pick n Pay. Disberry also brings with her international experience through her roles with BP, Colgate-Palmolive and Woolworths.
While Hickey is a CA(SA) and holds a BCompt (Hons). Hester has held non-executive positions in several JSE-listed companies and currently sits on the boards of Barloworld, Northam Platinum, Cashbuild and Pan African Resources. Hickey has significant experience being a member and chairman of audit committees of JSE-listed companies. She was the former chairman of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Malinga is a CA(SA) and is the co-founder and executive director of Jade Capital Partners. She serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Grindrod Bank and Sappi. Zola is the chairperson of the audit committee of Grindrod Bank and a member of the audit committee of Sappi. Malinga has experience in the financial services sector having held roles in investment banking, real estate finance and investment management.
“Pepkor looks forward to having the benefit of the significant experience and expertise of the appointees,” the company said.
Pepkor delivers strong sets of results
Strong operational performance in addition to a significantly lower level of debt resulted in Pepkor growing headline earnings per share (HEPS) by 50.6% for the six-month period ended 31 March 2021. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge.
The retailer reported today that revenue rose by 8.1% to R36.5 billion for the six months ended 31 March 2021. From a group perspective, cash sales increased by 10.7% while credit sales decreased by 3.8%. The credit contribution to total group sales reduced to 7% for the period from 8% in the comparable period.
Strong cash generation during the period facilitated a reduction in net debt to R6.1 billion from R14.1 billion in the comparable period.
During the period 108 new stores were opened which were focused on the group’s most robust and proven retail brands, supporting sustainable job creation. On 31 March 2021, the group’s expansive store footprint comprised 5 293 stores.
Also read: How Many Traders Are Helping Pepkor’s Flash Mobile Payments To Make Money in The Townships?
