Shoprite grows 8% in Q1 as price inflation drops to near zero

Core Insights - Shoprite Holdings Limited reported a strong operational performance for Q1 ended September 2025, with Group sales increasing by 8.0% [1] - The Supermarkets RSA segment achieved a sales growth of 7.9%, significantly outperforming the overall market growth by a factor of 1.7x as per NielsenIQ [1] Pricing and Inflation - A notable highlight was the significant reduction in selling price inflation within Supermarkets RSA, which fell to 1.4% for the quarter, contrasting sharply with the 5.1% inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages reported by Statistics South Africa [2] - The Group's price fighting banners, Shoprite and Usave, recorded 0% and negative 0.4% inflation, respectively, in September 2025 [2] Expansion and Growth - The Group continued its expansion efforts robustly, opening a net total of 81 stores, with 72 located in the core South African supermarkets segment [3] - New store openings in RSA included 38 supermarkets, comprising 10 Checkers, 15 Shoprite, and 13 Usave [3] - Sales from Supermarkets Non-RSA increased by 12.9% in reporting currency, and Medirite also saw a sales increase of 12.3% [3] - The Group successfully completed the sale of its non-RSA furniture businesses, effective October 1, 2025 [3]