Dis-Chem CEO Ivan Saltzman to step down
Pharmacy group Dis-Chem cofounder and CEO Ivan Saltzman will step down at the end of next month and CFO Rui Morais will take the helm.
The company, valued at R20.4bn on the JSE, said that Saltzman, who started the company with his wife, Lynette, in 1978, would stay on as an executive director on the board and remain an active member of the executive management team as he focuses on growing Dis-Chem retail space.
“Together with Lynette, I look forward to doing what I enjoy: spending time in the stores, and ensuring our staff continue to provide the value and service that has made the brand what it is today.
“I will continue to identify opportunities to expand our store footprint,” Saltzman said in a statement yesterday.
As part of the transition, he will divest 32.25-million DisChem ordinary shares, 3.75% of Dis-Chem’s issued share capital, owned by his family, to Morais and a group of key senior executives to ensure “their ongoing commitment”. DisChem chair Larry Nestadt said Saltzman was “one of the extraordinary retailers of his generation, who has transformed retail pharmacy”.
Morais joined the company in 2010 and has served as CFO since August 2012.
Executive head of finance Julia Pope will succeed Morais as CFO.
Dis-Chem added that it expected headline earnings per share to increase 16.5%-19% year on year to 115.6c-118c when it releases its 2023 annual results on Friday.
It sees group revenue and retail revenue excluding Covid19 vaccines and testing rising 9% and 8.4%, respectively.
The company is also in the final stage of acquiring a 63,000m² distribution centre in Gauteng for R502m to increase its warehouse space by 75%.
“The rapid growth of the group has necessitated the need for additional warehouse capacity to service increased demand from both our own retail stores and the independent market,” the group said.