Fixing retailer costs R400m
May 26, 2009
By Mzwandile Jacks
Ellerine, the furniture retailer acquired by African Bank Investments Limited (Abil) for R8.9 billion in 2007, was in a worse state than the microlender had thought, with write-offs having reached R1.1bn, Leon Kirkinis, the chief executive, said yesterday.
Filed under: Local News
Growth in retail sales slowed to an annual 6.6 percent last month from 7.1 percent in March as job losses undermined consumer spending, the Retailer Liaison Committee said yesterday. Sales of garments rose 7.4 percent, furniture gained 6.9 percent and CDs and DVDs 1.9 percent. The industry group collates data from firms like JD Group, Woolworths and Shoprite. The figures usually do not tally with data from Statistics SA, which surveys more firms and uses different methods. – Bloomberg
Filed under: Local Company News
Furniture retailer Ellerines was in a worse state than African Bank thought, with write-offs having reached R1.1 billion, Leon Kirkinis, the chief executive of the microlender, said yesterday. The price African Bank paid for Ellerines did not reflect the risks, he said, adding that the microlender paid more than it should have. page 3
Filed under: Retail
By Donwald Pressly
Foschini Group intends to expand its operations by 120 stores in the coming year so that it will be well placed when the upward trend in the retail cycle returns.
While Doug Murray, the group chief executive, said it was not immediately obvious when that upturn would take place, the group had been playing “catch-up” to some of its rivals, which had grown their stores significantly during the first part of this decade.
