Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - South Africa’s third-biggest listed clothes
retailer, Mr Price Group [JSE:MPC], reported a 22% rise in first-half profit as
above-inflation wage increases and decades-low interest rates lift consumer
spending.
Mr Price, whose nearly 1 000 no-frills stores cater mainly
to lower-income shoppers, said headline earnings per share totalled 187.3 cents
in the 26 weeks to end-September, compared with 153.3c a year earlier.
Retailers have been squeezed in recent years as consumers
battle high personal debt and unemployment, but low borrowing costs and
higher-than-inflation wage increases have helped them mount a recovery.
Mr Price, which competes with larger rivals Truworths International [JSE:TRU] and
The Foschini Group [JSE:FOS], said sales increased 11% to R5.3bn.
The company, which raised its dividend payout by 22% to
93.6c, said sales growth would be supported by new store openings, including
its first Nigerian outlet in March next year.
Shares in Mr Price, valued at $2.5bn, were down 0.9% at R80.25 by 12:30 GMT, in line with its rivals Foschini and Truworths.
Earlier this month Foschini reported a 26% rise in first-half profit, helped by the same factors.
