JSE-listed retailer Massmart plans to open another three Dion Wired stores in the new financial year.
In the year to June, the company opened two Dion Wired stores, taking total outlets to 13 in centres in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape. Massmart opened the first two outlets, which sell consumer electronics, in 2007.
Last February, the retailer said it would open another seven Dion Wired stores over the next three years, and acquire another four spaces to convert into the format. Last year, three Dion Wired stores were opened.
The group, which has four divisions and is home to brands such as Makro and Builders' Warehouse, has 313 stores in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In the year to June, it reported sales up by 10%, to R53 billion, across the group.
Massdiscounters, which houses 100 Game outlets and the 13 Dion Wired stores, is the second largest contributor to revenue, turning over R13.3 billion in sales and accounting for R782 million of Massmart's pre tax profit of R2.3 billion.
Masscash, its food wholesaler, is the largest division, accounting for R19.6 billion in turnover through its more than 700 outlets. Massmart did not account for Dion Wired sales' separately, but incorporates the brand's performance in its Massdiscounters unit.
CEO Grant Pattison says the company achieved “solid” results in a “difficult environment”. He says although the company will have a “firm view” of the new year after the first quarter, early indications are that “the consumer environment is perhaps slightly better than we may have thought”.
Last November, Massmart announced that US retailing giant Walmart would buy 51% of the company in a R16.5 billion deal.
Although the purchase has been sanctioned by the competition authorities, three government departments and unions have appealed the decision, which will be heard by the Competitions Appeal Court on 20 and 21 October.
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