The company, in its half year 2020 financial report seen by
BizWatch Nigeria, said the 100 per cent equity sale of its Nigerian subsidiary,
Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, would be concluded before the end of this
year.
In the report, Shoprite classified its Nigeria subsidiary as
discontinued operations as it had marked the business for sale.
The company had in August, announced that it would gradually
end its operation in Nigeria, after getting board approval.
Shoprite said the board decided to formally exit its
operations in Nigeria over unfavourable market conditions.
The latest financial report for a 26-week period ended
December 27, 2020, stated, “The Group confirms that the terms of sale have been
concluded for the disposal of a 100% equity stake in its Retail Supermarkets
Nigeria Ltd subsidiary.
“The transaction has been lodged with the Nigerian Federal
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for approval.
“Management expects the transaction to be approved by the
end of the 2021 financial year. Management is in the process of concluding a
franchise agreement for the Shoprite brand to remain in Nigeria as well as an
administration and services agreement to provide support to the new
shareholders with operating the outlets.”
Shoprite’s Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Engelbrecht , was
quoted as saying, “We closed the last of our Kenyan stores in February 2021 and
are at the approval stage in terms of the sale of our Nigeria supermarket
operation. From here, our capital allocated to the region remains at a minimum
and we continue to manage costs as best as we can.”
“Assets and liabilities relating to the Nigeria operations
disclosed as held for sale.”
For the 2020 operational year, the company still found the
business profitable but still held onto discontinuing the operations.
“Statement of comprehensive income reflects profit from
discontinued operations separately; assets and liabilities relating to the
Nigeria operations disclosed as held for sale,” it stated.
The company said it would continue its operations in Angola,
Zambia and Mozambique and reported an appearance exchange rate crisis in
Nigeria between the US dollar and the Naira, causing a loss of -7.9 percent as
of 2020 when considered to the exchange rate in 2019.
The company said it planned to ‘de-dollarise costs where
possible’ while ‘increasing local procurement’ across its retail outlets.
Meanwhile, Shoprite workers in the country in past week had
embarked on protest over the alleged refusal of the management to meet up with
the demands of the union.
The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Shop
and Distributive Employees (NUSDE), had vowed that the company would remain
shut until management acceded to their demands.
The Chairperson, NUSDE, Shoprite branch, Williams Peter,
told journalists in Ibadan that the union was using the Easter period to press
home its demands since dialogue had failed.
He stated that all Shoprite stores had been shut down
nationwide because the negotiation between the union and the management had
been deadlocked.
He said that although the planned transfer of Shoprite to a
new owner had been withheld for now, the Easter period was the right time to
get management to listen and accede to their demands
0 comments:
Post a Comment