South African Retailer Massmart Announces Extensive Annual Loss of $106 Million

Photo: Ventures Africa 

Massmart Holdings, a South African retailer, has announced Friday an extensive annual loss of about 1.6 billion rands ($106 million), jeopardized by damages in the store and dropping trading income because of looting last year during the nation’s civil unrest. 

According to the wholesale group, which Walmart Inc mainly owns, it foresees its 2021 headline loss from total earnings to accumulate between 1.478 billion rands and 1.571 billion rands. 

That stands at 60% to 70% more than the loss of 924 million rands revealed in 2020. 

The loss is seen expanding from 938 million rands to 1 billion rands, not counting food companies held for sales like Cambridge and Rhino stores. 

In December, Game general merchandise’s owner stated that it amassed a considerable inventory nullification due to the looting that exploded following President Jacob Zumba’s forced surrendering to be put behind bars for court contempt in July. 

The looting bluntly affected 43 of its stores. As a result, they faced approximately 450 million rands of lost trading profit and about 650 million rands of accounting loss after insurance proceeds. 

For reference, $1 is equal to 14.9747 rands.