South African fashion retailer TFG posts 15.3% fall in half-year earnings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Fashion retailer TFG reported a 15.3% fall in half-year earnings affected by increased levels of power cuts, higher interest rates and inflation but said retail turnover growth in the second half is expected to be higher than last year.

The owner of the Foschini and Markham clothing brands said headline earnings per share for the six months ended Sept.30, fell to 393.6 cents from 464.6 cents in the same period last year.

Earnings were also down due to the comparative high base in the previous year, which was driven by post-COVID pent up demand in TFG Australia and TFG London, the retailer said.

TFG lost 287,000 trading hours in the period due to rolling power cuts by South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom.

Its Africa business still managed to grow retail turnover by 17.3%, driven largely by the clothing and homeware categories, with jewellery and cosmetics lower due to the discretionary nature of this merchandise.

Overall group retail turnover grew by 12.4% to 26.4 billion rand ($1.41 billion).

Retail turnover in the second half of FY2024 to end-March is expected to be higher than the same period the prior year, especially in Q4 as it will be against the softer base of Q4 FY2023, it said.

TFG, which also operates in London and Australia said trading conditions and consumer confidence are likely to remain under pressure and expects customers to continue to seek value, which could drive further promotional activity as the cost of living pressures continue throughout 2023.

($1 = 18.6863 rand)

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Sharon Singleton)