Clicks opened its 1 000th store during the period.
Clicks Group reported a material impact on retail performance after delays in the rollout of its warehouse management system (WMS) at its Cape Town distribution centre disrupted product availability across stores in the Western and Eastern Cape, particularly during the critical festive trading period.
The disruption is estimated to have reduced retail turnover by approximately R175 million (0.9%) of sales, before availability levels recovered to target by the end of February 2026.
Clicks, the largest retail pharmacy in South Africa, released its financial results for the year ended February 2026 on Friday, revealing it made a turnover of R24.8 billion.
Clicks warehouse system
The retailer acknowledged that it could have achieved higher turnover, but the delay in implementing the warehouse system hampered its performance.
“Against a background of constrained consumer spending and internal systems challenges, Clicks delivered a resilient performance, with pharmacy sales increasing by 8.6% and retail pharmacy market share strengthening to 24.9% from 24.2% in the prior period,” said the retailer on Friday.
“Retail turnover was impacted by delays in the implementation of the warehouse management system (WMS) at the Clicks distribution centre in Cape Town, which reduced product availability in Western Cape and Eastern Cape stores, particularly over the festive season.
“Product availability improved steadily and returned to targeted levels by the end of February 2026.”
Clicks hurt by competition
Clicks also acknowledged that retail trading was further impacted by aggressive discounting by competitors over the festive season.
However, it is not all sad news. Group trading profit increased by 7.4% to R2.3 billion, and the group’s trading margin was maintained at 9.1%.
The retail margin increased to 10.3% from a normalised 10.2% in the prior period. UPD’s trading margin was 10 basis points lower at 2.5%. The results revealed that headline earnings grew by 6.4% to R1.5 billion.
Basic earnings per share increased by 8.3% to 653 cents, and headline earnings per share increased by 8.1% to 653 cents, benefiting from share buybacks over the last 18 months.
More stores opened
According to the results, the retailer opened its 1 000th store during the period, increasing its footprint to 1 003 stores while the national pharmacy network was expanded to 795.
“Clicks ClubCard grew active membership by 800 000 to 12.9 million, contributing 83.7% of sales in Clicks,” read the results. “Loyalty members received R527 million in cashback rewards during the six months.
“The group returned R2.3 billion to shareholders in dividend payments totalling R1.5 billion and share buybacks of R752 million.”
The future
“The consumer environment is expected to remain under significant pressure in the second half as rising fuel prices and associated inflationary pressures constrain household spending,” said the retailer.
Clicks plans to open between 40 and 50 new stores and 40 to 50 new pharmacies in the 2026 financial year. In addition, 10 differentiated concept stores will be piloted in the second half of the year.
“Capital expenditure of R1.3 billion is planned for the 2026 financial year,” said the retailer.
“This includes R662 million for new stores and pharmacies and the refurbishment of 80 to 90 stores. A further R594 million will be invested in supply chain, IT and infrastructure. The group remains committed to achieving its medium-term financial targets as well as its medium-term store target of 1 200.”