Discount retailer Boxer announces profits and a new CEO

JOHANNESBURG - Boxer’s growth story continues. In interim results released on Monday, the discount retailer said Justin Galloway will succeed Marek Masojada. Boxer has expanded rapidly in recent years, boosting its parent company, Pick n Pay, which retains a large stake.

When Masojada joined in the early 1990s, Boxer had just five stores. Over 30 years later, he leaves after helping grow the network to 600 stores. Headline earnings per share rose 9.2% in the six months to August.

This growth comes despite lower food prices following a record harvest in South Africa. READ | Boxer muscles through tough retail environment Talking to eNCA, Masojada described the journey over the 30-odd years as a privilege to have been part of the growth, working alongside a ‘great team’ “There is a lot of mixed feelings, but what I will say is that the job's not done.

I remain in place until the end of our financial year, and obviously we're all going to be working extremely hard to deliver a year-end result after the satisfactory result," he said. In his conversation with eNCA, Masojada took the time to reflect on the food prices, which were lower than a year ago.

READ | What determines prices? SAHRC probe into SA food system moves to second leg He said that while having lower prices is great for the consumer, for any retailer having consistent deflation in the market, it does present challenges in terms of getting rand growth through the tills.

But despite that deflation, there is strong promotional activity which many retailers put out into the market to keep themselves and the value proposition active in the consumer’s mind. “We've seen good volume growth during the course of the period and modest turnover growth at the top end.

That is the challenge I think we all face.”