Clicks profit grows 9%

Johannesburg – Retailer Clicks Group [JSE:CLS] reported a near 10% rise in full-year profit on Thursday, as relatively low inflation helped support consumer spending.

Clicks, which runs SA’s biggest drug store chain, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 273.4 cents in the year to end-August, compared with 250 cents a year earlier.

Revenue increased 9.5% to R16.2bn and the company declared a final dividend of 107.9 cents, up from 88 cents last year.

The company said it plans to spend R356m in 2013 on new stores and upgrades to existing stores.

Clicks bought back more than R500m of its own shares in the past two years, helping it ease pressure on profitability due to increasing competition and as consumers grapple with high fuel costs.

Shares of the company were flat after the results.