The chairman of South Africa's Pick n Pay, Gareth Ackerman, will retire from his role next year after 14 years at the helm of the country's third-biggest supermarket retailer.
The board will announce his successor in due course, the company said on Monday.
Earlier this year, new chief executive Sean Summers announced a two-step recapitalisation plan including a rights issue to raise up to 4 billion rand (€200.4 million) and the listing of its crown jewel discount grocer Boxer in order to repay all of its ballooning 6.1 billion rand (€305.5 billion) of debt.
The Ackerman family, which founded Pick n Pay and is its controlling shareholder, has given in-principle support for the proposed plan.
Ackerman Investment Holdings
On Monday Pick n Pay said Ackerman Investment Holdings (AIH) would exercise its rights up to a maximum amount of 1.025 billion rand (€51.34 million) in the offer.
At the same time, AIH and related persons agreed to forego majority shareholder voting control of Pick n Pay, such that their voting rights will fall slightly below 50% after the planned offer, the company added.
Financial Performance
In its 2024 financial year, Pick n Pay reported a revenue increase to 115.4 billion rand, from 109.3 billion rand in 2023. However, trading profit fell sharply to 385 million rand from 3 billion rand in 2023.
The company also reported a loss for the period of 3.2 billion rand, compared to a profit of 1.2 billion rand in the previous year.
'FY24 was a particularly difficult period for the group,' it said in a statement. 'While its Boxer, Pick n Pay Clothing and online businesses continued to deliver strong results, Pick n Pay supermarkets struggled to gain sales traction while contending with gross profit margin pressure and load shedding costs, and consequently reported a substantial trading loss alongside a material asset impairment.'
Additional reporting by ESM
