Dis-Chem’s revenue grew by 8% to R23 billion in the six months to 31 August 2026, the JSE-listed retailer said on Thursday. Its earnings per share fell by more than 13% over the same period.
The pharmacy group said in a Sens statement that its Better Rewards programme drove most of the higher revenue. This was despite temporary price deflation across 45% of front shop retail sales. Moneyweb reported that consumer spending remains constrained.
“Expenses grew by 12.1% over the comparable period. Retail expenses grew by 13.7% as the group continued to invest in new stores and X, bigly labs,” the retailer said.
Basic earnings per share dropped to 64.1 cents, from 73.9 cents a year earlier. Basic headline earnings per share fell by 12.8% to 64.3 cents.
Dis-Chem said retail employment cost rose by 12.8%. That cost makes up 53.0% of total retail expenses.
The group declared an interim dividend of 25.62 cents. That is 12.9% lower than in the prior comparable period.
Dis-Chem’s share price slid 8% in Friday morning trade, Moneyweb reported. It dropped from R27.95 to R25.49.
The retailer launched Better Rewards in October 2025. The programme replaced its 23-year-old Benefit Card, which let shoppers collect points. Customers now get instant discounts at the till instead.
The group said Better Rewards has returned R1.5 billion in instant value to customers one year after its launch. This is on top of its normal retail promotions.
Wholesale revenue grew by 9.6% to R18.4 billion during the six months.
“Wholesale revenue to own retail stores, still the biggest contributor, grew by 10.3% while external revenue to independent pharmacies and The Local Choice (TLC) franchises grew by 7.0% over the comparable period,” the group said.
Dis-Chem said growth from independent pharmacies was 5%. It said this came from new customers and from more support by its current customers.
TLC growth was 9.3%, the group said. The number of TLC franchise stores rose from 258 to 294, and existing franchisees also gave its supply chain more support.
The wholesale business now serves 1 690 independently owned pharmacies. Dis-Chem said this is about 89% of the independently owned pharmacy market.
Looking ahead, the group said it expects earnings to be spread more evenly across the first and second halves of its 2027 financial year. It linked this to the higher invested cost base for X, bigly labs in the second half of its 2026 financial year.
Dis-Chem said this would contribute to a stronger full year earnings performance.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Moneyweb. Image: Moneyweb. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.