COMPANY RESULTS
Cashbuild feels the bite of hard times
Cashbuild, southern Africa’s largest retailer of building materials, is feeling the pinch of SA’s poor economy. The group’s revenue for the six months to December was up a tepid 5% as operating profit fell 10% and headline earnings per share declined 8%. The group sells direct to cash-paying customers through a constantly expanding chain of stores — 317 at the end of the current financial period. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that the market we are trading in is exceptionally tough,” CEO Werner de Jager said on Tuesday. “You have to be realistic in these times.” The group added 22 more stores in the period, which outweighed the growth in earnings. “[But] it’s an investment for the future, so we are not concerned about this at all,” De Jager said. Additions and renovations make up most of the group’s earnings, derived from retail customers and “bakkie builders”. “[Bigger] contractors gave us bad debts,” De Jager said. “There is a lot of work and low margins and a bi...
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