The battle for market share among South African food retailers is in full swing, with Whitey Basson-led Shoprite saying yesterday that it had managed to gain further traction, experiencing growth across all its retail offerings.

"We have not seen anybody that has done better than us - we’ve felt no impact on operations from either old or new entrants in the market," Mr Basson said in an interview yesterday.

Shoprite said in its interim results for the six months ended in December that it had managed to further increase its market share, according to the Nielsen’s industry growth report. "Across all our formats (Checkers, Shoprite and USave) we’ve grown market share," Mr Basson said.



SA’s retail space has seen a rush of activity over the past couple of years with the entry of Walmart Stores, the biggest retailer in the US. Rivals have also tried to take advantage of struggling Pick n Pay, which has undertaken a transformation drive to arrest declining market share.

On Pick n Pay’s struggles, Mr Basson said the 45-year-old grocer could come out of its struggles, as every retailer had what he called a "life cycle".

In the market share growth experienced over the past six months, he said the company had managed to gain traction in the upper end of the market, affecting Pick n Pay and Woolworths.

Africa’s biggest retailer posted first-half profit growth of 20%, which it ascribed to new stores and "particularly good" spending over the December holidays.

The retailer benefited from "the size of its store footprint and the efficiency of its infrastructure", Mr Basson said.

Shoprite opened 59 stores in the first half, and said another 174 would be added by June next year. Ten new stores were opened in African countries outside SA, with another 12 planned before the end of the full year.

Net income rose to R1,4-billion, or R2,80 per share, from R1,2-billion, or R2,34 per share, a year earlier, the company said. Sales increased 13% to R41-billion.

Earnings were "somewhat below my expectations, but there was still strong market share growth", Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer for Gryphon Asset Management, said. "They are definitely eating into Pick n Pay - their market positioning is excellent and they are designed for the South African set-up."

For the remainder of the year, Mr Basson foresaw no material changes in market conditions although food inflation was expected to increase further.