Johannesburg - Edcon Holdings (Pty) Ltd., South Africa’s largest clothing retailer, said second-quarter sales rose and losses narrowed as trading at lower-price units improved and the company introduced new international brands.
The loss was 724 million rand ($71 million) in the three months to September 28, versus a restated 2.7 billion-rand loss a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement today.
Retail sales advanced 5.9 percent to 6 billion rand.
The refurbishment of 72 stores in the Edgars chain is “almost complete, although the heavy build element of this program still negatively affected results,” said the company, controlled by private-equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC.
The discount division, which includes the Jet chain, “delivered a good sales and profitability performance,” with same-store sales rising 4.9 percent.
Bain, based in Boston, bought Edcon in 2007 for 25 billion rand in an effort to tap rising consumer spending in Africa’s largest economy.
Edcon, which owns chains including CNA, Boardmans and Red Square, has been revamping stores in an effort to regain market share.
Growth in South African retail sales grew 0.2 percent in September, the slowest pace since December 2009, as inflationary pressures curbed spending. - Bloomberg News