Clicks group sales up 13.9% to R8.2bn in 20 weeks
It said the Clicks chain grew turnover by 10.3%‚ driven by "a well planned promotional programme which appealed to value conscious consumers".
The company said pharmaceutical division UDP continued to benefit from its growing distribution business and increased turnover by 21% during the period.
Earlier in January‚ Clicks announced that Keith Warburton‚ an executive director and chief operating officer of the company‚ had resigned effective March 31.
It said Warburton would be replaced by Vikesh Ramsunder‚ current MD at UPD‚ from 1 April.
Vikash Singh‚ the current head of operations and distribution at UPD‚ would succeed Ramsunder as the MD of UPD.
Clicks CEO David Kneale said Warburton had achieved the objectives of repositioning the Clicks brand for growth by improving the value offering‚ expanding the stores and pharmacy footprint‚ improving the contribution of the private label‚ growing customer loyalty and stemming the labour turnover in its pharmacies.
"Keith's strong financial acumen and in-depth knowledge of the group enabled him to focus on further improving our business processes and reducing the brand's cost base‚" he said.
Concerning the results for the 20 weeks to January‚ Kneale said customer behaviour continued to reflect a shift to shopping later in the festive season‚ with the group experiencing record trading in the three days before Christmas.
"We have also continued to see buoyant trading in the period after Christmas and into the new year‚ again driven by promotions activity‚" Kneale said.
Clicks will release its results for the six months ended February 2015 on or about 23 April.
Source: BDpro via I-Net Bridge