CFO Michael Fleming says the group delivered a strong performance despite challenging trading conditions.
On Thursday 24 October, Clicks Group announced its results for the year ended August 2019, reporting a 17 percent increase in group earnings.
Clicks Group CFO Michael Fleming said:
“I was very pleased with our year-end results, which demonstrated the resilience of the group’s brands as well as our strong balance sheet.”
The group accredited the diluted headline earnings per share increase of 16.8 percent to the retail and distribution businesses both delivering strong performances in an “environment of low economic growth and challenging trading conditions”.
The group also increased its total dividend by 17.1 percent, with the dividend payout ratio being increased from 62 percent to 65 percent.
Cash generated by the group increased by 19.5 percent to R2.9 billion. Cash resources increased by R1.1 billion and the group ended the year with cash of R2.6 billion.
The group returned R1.2 billion to shareholders in dividend payments and share buy-backs, bringing the amount returned to shareholders over the past 10 years to R7.4 billion.
