Beauty and pharmaceuticals giant Dis-Chem has reported a 20% rise in full-year earnings driven by effective payroll cost management.
The group’s headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the 12 months to end-February, rose to 137.5c from 114.6c in the prior year. Operating profit grew 18.3% buoyed by the successful deployment of staffing framework 1.0, the group said.
Total expenses rose 7.5% with retail expenses up 6.8% as the group invested in new stores. Retail employment costs, which account for 54.6% of total retail expenses, increased by 6.4%.
Wholesale expenses grew 11.1%, mainly due to the acquisition of the Longmeadow warehouse in the prior period.
“Like-for-like retail employee costs decreased by 0.2%, following the successful implementation of staffing framework 1.0, where the emphasis was on achieving a consistent and optimal mix of staff to ensure stores run efficiently and without compromising the differentiated service levels that our customers have come to know and expect.”
Group revenue rose 8% to R39.2bn, with retail revenue up 5.9% and comparable pharmacy store revenue rising by 4.1%. Wholesale revenue increased by 9.9% with the group’s own retail stores growing 7.4%.
The external revenue to independent pharmacies and The Local Choice Franchises grew 22.1%. Dis-Chem said growth in dependent pharmacies was bolstered by an increase in new customers and support from the current base.
The company declared a final dividend of 27.85c, a 23.8% increase year on year, making a total dividend of 54.83c.
Dis-Chem said while consumers remained under strain, it would continue with its expansion efforts with a target to open 39 retail pharmacies. It would also deploy staffing framework 2.0 in its retail business while reimagining its online retailing and healthcare access, starting with a complete revamp of digital channels.
It added that for the three-month period since the year-end, group revenue grew 8.6% over the comparable period.
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