Clicks places 7.6-million shares held in employee share ownership trust
Retail chain Clicks successfully placed 7.6-million shares held in an employee share ownership trust at R166 each on Friday, causing its share price to weaken as much as 2.7% to R167.68. Clicks said 35 institutional investors bid for the shares, which represented half the shares held by the trust. The R166 bid price was at a 3.7% discount to Wednesday’s R168.79 closing price. In October, the group revealed plans to grow its stores to 900. It would invest R680m during the 2018 financial year to add 25 to 30 new stores, and about 35 pharmacies, among other things. In the year to August, the group posted a 15.4% rise in operating profit to R1.8bn, thanks to strong health and beauty sales that grew 14.7%. The opening of 111 stores, including 80 through an outsourcing agreement with the Netcare Group, bumped up its store footprint to 622. Its pharmacy network rose to 473.
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