JSE-listed retailer Mr Price today released its full-year 2023 results for the 52 weeks ended 1 April 2023.
Group revenue increased by 17.0% to R32.9 billion, supported by the acquisition of 70% of Studio 88 with effect from 4 October 2022.
With the addition of Studio 88, the group’s total number of shops increased to 2 702.
The three recent acquisitions delivered double-digit sales growth and had a positive impact on the group’s profit.
The retailer said a significant increase in power cuts severely impacted the key festive months, resulting in an annual EBITDA increase of only 5,4% to R7,2 billion.
The group’s headline earnings per share (HEPS) fell by 6% TO 1 205,7 cents. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge.
Mr Price added that its Telecoms segment contributed 3.3% to the group’s retail revenue.
The revenue for Telecoms segment increased by 4.5% to R1.2 billion.
The presence of wireless products in shops increased to a total of 465 shops and the 12 stand-alone shops continue to perform well.
“Over 800 000 cellular handsets and accessories were sold during the year, resulting in market share gains of 70 basis points, according to Growth for Knowledge,” said Mr Price.
Oracle ERP system
Mr Price said the implementation of a new Oracle Merchandise Enterprise Resource Planning system in April 2022 was a significant milestone for the group, reducing the risk of the old home-grown IT environment and creating a platform for the company’s growth ambitions.
“As noted in prior SENS announcements, post go-live stabilisation challenges were encountered, which are typical in such large company-wide installations and resulted in disruption and signi¬ficant distraction to merchant activities,” said the retailer.
“An internal diagnostic performed by management revealed that the system cut over impacted the group’s competitive advantage of in-season trade and the execution of key sales, stock and margin management planning activities over the year. The project was successfully closed on 15 March 2023.”
