Shoprite Profit Climbs as Grocer Limits Food Price Increases
- Net income advanced 12% in first half of year vs. 9% year ago
- Retailer's shares gain 2.6% to 148.5 rand in Johannesburg
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Shoprite Holdings Ltd. said first-half profit growth accelerated as Africa’s largest food retailer kept price increases below a soaring inflation rate, boosting sales to cash-strapped shoppers.
Shoprite’s so-called internal food inflation was 2.2 percent in the period, compared with 5.2 percent a year earlier and national food inflation of 5.8 percent in December, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Net income advanced 12 percent to 2.2 billion rand ($146 million) in the six months through December, compared with a 9 percent increase a year earlier.