Will rival clip Clicks’ wings?
Growth of high-flying retailer and expansion by new listing Dis-Chem may saturate lucrative market
The entry of Clicks into the pharmaceutical retail market in January 2003 has paid dividends for the group, whose stock has soared more than 2,000% since then. It began with the health and beauty retailer’s acquisition of New United Pharmaceutical Distributors for R281m. By April 2003, legislation was passed enabling dispensaries to be introduced into Clicks stores. Since January 23 2003, the stock has gained 2,163.60%. The pharmaceutical retail sector has been a boon for Clicks over the years. Even in a more constrained economic environment, the investment has proved to be resilient, with Clicks performing well ahead of its peers. In the 20 weeks to the middle of January 2017, the retailer reported volume growth of 4.2%. In the past year alone, while the food and drug retailers index increased about 6.55%, the Clicks share price rose about 37.64% in the same period. But some industry pundits think the stock is overvalued at current price levels. "It’s expensive at the moment … inve...
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