Business

Pick n Pay Eyes Break-Even by 2028 After Cutting Losses and Stabilizing Core Business

Published

3 months ago

May 26, 2025

zaghrah

Sourced: X {https://x.com/PhilMphela/status/1886755015492071875}

Pick n Pay, one of South Africa’s biggest grocery retailers, has announced that it expects to return to break-even by 2028. This comes after a tough few years, but recent financials show signs of a slow but steady turnaround.

In its latest annual results, the retailer posted a smaller pre-tax loss of R237 million for the 53 weeks ending March 2. That’s a significant improvement from the R1.4 billion loss reported the previous year. The main driver? A notable reduction in the trading loss from its core Pick n Pay business, which improved by R1 billion, down to R549 million.

CEO Sean Summers, who returned to lead the company in late 2023, acknowledged the uphill journey. “When I came back in October, I said the recovery would take time—and that it might even get worse before it gets better,” he said. “But we believe we’ve hit the bottom, and we’ve updated our plan to reach break-even by the 2028 financial year.”

The company’s strategy to stabilize its finances is already showing early results. Thanks to its recapitalisation plan, net interest paid dropped by 27.3%, easing some of the pressure from high debt service costs.

Group turnover rose 5.6%, reaching R118.6 billion. A big part of that growth came from Boxer, Pick n Pay’s discount chain, which grew 13.2% and has since been spun off and listed separately. Meanwhile, the core Pick n Pay business reported 1.9% sales growth and managed to return to a trading profit in the second half of the financial year.

While challenges remain, especially in the highly competitive grocery space, Pick n Pay’s leadership believes the worst is behind them. With clear cost-cutting efforts and renewed focus on their high-performing segments, the retailer is positioning itself for a long-term recovery.

As Summers put it, “It’s been tough, but we’re making the changes needed to turn this ship around.”