A South African billionaire and Shoprite’s largest stakeholder, Christoffel Wiese, with an 11.58% interest that was formerly valued at over $900 million as of September 10th, has made the decision to sell Shoprite shares worth $49.5m
The Times reported that this is in accordance with a notice posted on their website. His $1.1 billion fortune, which made him one of Africa’s wealthiest people, was largely made up of Shoprite shares.
Wiese made this tactical choice shortly after receiving a final payout from his ownership in Shoprite on October 2nd in the sum of R261.91 billion, or $13.84 million. As a result of Shoprite’s fantastic financial results throughout the fiscal year 2023, which ended July 2, 2023.
For the fiscal year 2023, Shoprite reported a 2.8% increase in profit, going from R5.74 billion (equal to $300.17 million) to R5.9 billion (equivalent to $308.55 million).
The company showed outstanding sales growth all year long, increasing it by an astonishing 17.1%. The revenue of Shoprite increased dramatically from R187.53 billion ($9.8 billion) in 2022 to R219.53 billion ($11.48 billion) in 2023.
According to sources, during the fiscal year that concluded in July, it saw a year-over-year increase in net earnings of 9.6%.
The Shoprite board of directors declared a final dividend of R4.15 (or $0.217) per share as a reward for the company’s tenacity. This is a notable 10.5% increase in the dividend per share for the entire year, reiterating Shoprite’s dedication to creating value for its shareholders and stakeholders.
According to Forbes, Christoffel Wiese started off by giving low pricing in South Africa and then expanded his Pepkor retail empire into other African countries.
The South African furniture giant Steinhoff International acquired Pepkor for a massive $5.7 billion in cash and equity in 2015.
Wiese made the decision to leave his position as chairman of Steinhoff in December 2017. This action was taken following the company’s disclosure of serious accounting irregularities, which led to a steep fall in its share price. Unfortunately, Wiese also lost his billionaire status in the wake of this turmoil.
However, Wiese was able to regain his significant wealth in 2022. This resulted from him settling his disagreement with Steinhoff and securing a settlement that included a 5% share in Pepkor along with cash and stock.
Wiese’s most valuable asset is still Shoprite, but he also has ownership interests in a number of other businesses, including as the retailer Tradehold, the private equity firm Brait, and the manufacturer of industrial products Invicta Holdings. His current market value is $1.1 billion.
