JSE-listed retailer Pepkor Holdings announced that it now accounts for eight out of every ten prepaid cellular handsets sold in South Africa. This impressive figure, based on March 2025 research data from GfK and the Retailers’ Liaison Committee, marks a significant increase of approximately 10 percentage points over the past year, growing from 70% to 80% market share – a more than 14% increase in that period.
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The group’s total cellular handset sales surged by 17% to 6.8 million units during the six months ending March 2025. This growth was accompanied by a notable increase in smartphone penetration, as Pepkor’s efforts to make smartphones more affordable led to them accounting for 65% of all handsets sold. Pepkor attributed this success to its expansive store network, which serves as a powerful distribution channel, solidifying its position as the clear leader in the cellular market through a “differentiated and highly resilient strategy.”
Pepkor’s trading performance in the latest six-month period was significantly boosted by “solid growth in cellular connectivity.” A key contributor to this success is FoneYam, the group’s newly developed smartphone rental product launched in 2024. Designed to overcome affordability barriers, FoneYam has seen strong growth, with active customers surpassing the 1.5 million mark by the end of the reporting period and averaging 165,000 monthly activations. Pepkor highlighted FoneYam’s substantial contribution to the group’s overall profitability.
Financially, Pepkor delivered robust results, reporting a 12.4% rise in half-year earnings and a 12.8% increase in revenue. This strong performance was supported by improved product availability and the continued growth in cellular connectivity. Headline earnings per share (Heps) from continuing operations for the owner of popular clothing brands Pep and Ackermans rose to 84.3c, up from 75c a year ago, with normalized Heps growing by 18.9%.
Group revenue climbed to R48.8 billion. The clothing and general merchandise segment saw a 9.5% increase in revenue to R34.5 billion, while the furniture, appliances, and electronics segment grew by 9.1% to R6.5 billion. Pepkor’s fintech business also experienced remarkable growth, with revenue increasing by 34.5% to R7.9 billion, driven by a 67.3% surge in financial services. The retailer noted that group merchandise sales growth of 10% also benefited from improved product availability as local port congestion eased.
