Recession squeezes Shoprite sales

SUPERMARKET group Shoprite said yesterday that trading conditions in South Africa remained challenging in the second half of its financial year. “The challenging trading conditions in South Africa continued in the second half of the year, and the South African supermarket operation increased sales by 10.1 percent,” the company said in a trading update. But it said that on a “like-for-like basis” – a comparison that usually excludes the effects of expansion or acquisition – sales increased by a more moderate 6.9 percent. Elsewhere in Africa, Shoprite said it “recorded sales growth of 13.5 percent, mainly due to the impact of lower commodity prices and the devaluation of certain currencies”. – Reuters