Lewis managed to keep its revenue nearly flat despite
suffering from the government’s clampdown on furniture retailers tying
sales to high-interest and insurance agreements.
The retailer reported its revenue from merchandise sales grew 10% to R2.9bn during the year to end-March.
This helped offset an 18% drop in insurance income to R671m, a 7% drop in "ancillary services" fees to R659m and a 6% drop in "finance charges and initiation fees" to R1.4bn.
The results showed Lewis has not switched to selling for cash rather than credit despite the fall in associated income.
Growth of its credit sales was 10.7%, outpacing cash sales growth of 8.2%. This resulted in the proportion of credit sales widening slightly to 65.7% from 65.2% in the previous year.
While Lewis managed to hold its top line flat, its bottom line suffered from lower fee income, translating into a 26% decline in net profit to R264m.
Lewis maintained its final dividend of R1, holding the total for its 2018 financial year at R2, the same as in 2017.
"Following the acquisition of 31 UFO stores and the net closure of 19 stores across the Lewis and Beares brands, the group’s store network totalled 773 at year-end," the company said in its results statement.
"This includes 110 stores in the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. Lewis continues to open smaller format stores which now account for 212 of the brand’s 499 stores."
Stores outside SA contributed 22.5% of the group’s merchandise sales, slightly down from the previous year’s 24.1%.
The retailer reported its revenue from merchandise sales grew 10% to R2.9bn during the year to end-March.
This helped offset an 18% drop in insurance income to R671m, a 7% drop in "ancillary services" fees to R659m and a 6% drop in "finance charges and initiation fees" to R1.4bn.
The results showed Lewis has not switched to selling for cash rather than credit despite the fall in associated income.
Growth of its credit sales was 10.7%, outpacing cash sales growth of 8.2%. This resulted in the proportion of credit sales widening slightly to 65.7% from 65.2% in the previous year.
While Lewis managed to hold its top line flat, its bottom line suffered from lower fee income, translating into a 26% decline in net profit to R264m.
Lewis maintained its final dividend of R1, holding the total for its 2018 financial year at R2, the same as in 2017.
"Following the acquisition of 31 UFO stores and the net closure of 19 stores across the Lewis and Beares brands, the group’s store network totalled 773 at year-end," the company said in its results statement.
"This includes 110 stores in the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. Lewis continues to open smaller format stores which now account for 212 of the brand’s 499 stores."
Stores outside SA contributed 22.5% of the group’s merchandise sales, slightly down from the previous year’s 24.1%.
- Businesslive2018
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