- The group registers P9bn turnover
- Targets P10bn by 2025
- Estimates to open five new stores annually
Chandra Chauhan, Group Managing Director of the blue-chip retail conglomerate Sefalana Group, has declared it the largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) retailer in the country after revenue reached P9 billion.
The group announced its record-breaking turnover last week at its financial results presentation for the year ended 30 April 2023. The P9 billion turnover was achieved inspite of macroeconomic headwinds like high inflation and rising interest rates. Chauhan said revenue was driven by Botswana business which achieved a turnover of P5 billion. Botswana business has a footprint of 123 stores, including 58 liquor stores.
“Namibia recorded N$4 billion for the first time and Lesotho R1 billion,” Chauhan announced. Sefalana has been operating in Lesotho for seven years now where it runs four stores, with two of those located in the capital Maseru. Chauhan said the business in Lesotho has great potential which they hope to explore in the coming years.
Sefalana which has a diversified portfolio, has been for a longer period focused on the FMCG business. The group also operates in the manufacturing, property, and beverage sectors. “For the first time, we have seen P400 million Profit before Tax (PBT,” he said. “This is part of the strategy we set through which we want to achieve P10 billion in Group turnover by the year 2025.”
The P400 PBT was a 21 percent hike from the P333.8 million achieved during the previous corresponding period. He declared that the group also intends to achieve P500 PBT by the same year. During the period under review, Sefalana opened five additional liquor stores creating over 1000 jobs in the process, Chauhan announced. “We paid P102 million in taxes,” Chauhan said.
However, Sefalana is not yet done opening new stores, as Chauhan revealed that the group intends to open five new stores a year for the foreseeable future, but also being cognisant of the level of saturation in the country. As such, he said Sefalana will only open new stores where there is a sound business case to do. As far as the operating environment is concerned, he noted that COVID-19 is no longer a concern explaining that the group worked tirelessly during that period to ensure it remains resilient.
