Choppies� African offensive: Seven countries and still counting :: Mmegi Online

Before the end of the year, Botswana’s largest fast moving consumer goods company, Choppies Enterprises will enter the Namibian market, the eighth African country for the budget retailer to establish presence. The aggressive expansion drive, which has seen the company opening shop in four countries in the last two years, has not only come at a considerable capital outlay but has also had a drag-on effect on the company’s bottom line. BusinessWeek’s BRIAN BENZA doorstepped CEO Ramachandran Ottapathu at his Gaborone offices this week and prodded the trailblazing executive about the company’s recently released financial numbers, future plans and their target growth trajectory

BusinessWeek: Your recent results show continued growth in revenues and footfall but net profits seem to continue weakening. Is this part of the plan?

Ottapathu: The continued rise in revenues and footfall is a clear indication of our ability to operate in the African market where we have managed to establish footprint in seven countries in a short space of time. The group operates predominantly in commodity dependent markets, and despite the difficult trading circumstances, Choppies performed well in the last financial year. Balanced growth in revenue and gross profit was achieved. Our revenues for the year ended June 2017 jumped 20% to almost P9 billion and gross profit rose 30%. Net profit, however, dipped 9.5% to P77 million, but this is merely the drag-on effect of our aggressive expansion drive.

Already have an active account? Log in here.

Or Sign up and get unlimited access to premium articles.