Shoprite, backed by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, posts $14.3 billion revenue

Shoprite Holdings, Africa’s largest retailer and partly owned by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, reported steady sales growth for the 52 weeks ending June 29, 2025. Strong demand in its South African supermarket chains, robust performance at Checkers, and rapid uptake of its Sixty60 delivery service underpinned the results.

According to its 52 weeks report, merchandise sales from continuing operations rose 8.9 percent to R252.7 billion ($14.3 billion), with the core Supermarkets RSA division contributing R216.6 billion ($12.2 billion). 

Shoprite and Usave sales advanced 5.9 percent to R116.6 billion ($6.6 billion), while Checkers jumped 13.8 percent to nearly R100 billion ($5.7 billion). Trading profit rose 16.6 percent to R14.95 billion ($844 million), while annual profit increased 18.8 percent to R7.39 billion ($417 million). 

Profit growth and dividend boost

Net income from continuing operations rose to R7.39 billion ($417.8 million) from R6.22 billion ($351.5 million) a year earlier, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This year, the Group achieved an impressive milestone by surpassing the R250 billion ($14.11 billion) sales mark, with sales growth of R20.6 billion ($1.16 billion) for the period. Prioritising our customers, we returned R16.5 billion ($930.56 million) at point of sale while successfully maintaining our selling price inflation at only 2.3 percent in our core Supermarkets RSA segment,” CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said.

Shoprite’s board lifted the total dividend to R7.81 per share, up 9.7 percent from the prior year, after declaring a final payout of R4.96. The group also repurchased R997 million ($55.3 million) worth of shares in the first half at an average price of R289.29 ($16.04).

Reshaping operations and online push

Shoprite has been trimming operations outside its home market, selling its furniture unit to Pepkor Holdings Ltd. and scaling back in some African countries. At the same time, it acquired the remaining 50 percent stake in its logistics arm, Pingo Delivery.

The retailer, which serves more than 30 million customers across 3,908 corporate-owned stores, said it will keep investing in its omnichannel strategy. This includes an upgraded Sixty60 app and new online shopping options aimed at strengthening its reach.

Expansion and footprint

The group expanded its South African network with 281 new stores during the year. This included 42 Shoprite outlets, 29 Checkers stores and three Checkers Hypermarkets. Liquor and specialty formats also gained ground, with Shoprite LiquorShop growing to 522 outlets, Checkers LiquorShop to 311, Petshop Science to 144 locations, Uniq to 30 stores, Checkers Outdoor to 28, and Little Me baby stores to 11. 

Outside South Africa, Shoprite operates more than 1,343 outlets and employs over 150,000 people. Its 268 supermarkets across seven African countries delivered steady growth, with most new openings concentrated in Namibia, Zambia and Eswatini. Looking ahead, the group plans to add 223 new stores in the 2026 financial year.

Christo Wiese, who owns an 11.5 percent stake, remains closely tied to the group’s long-term strategy. He has a net worth of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.