Retail roundup: Lewis delivers, Spar retreats, Pick n Pay bleeds

There was a flurry of corporate activity in the past week as companies with February and March year-ends wanted to get results out before the end of the month.

- THE FINANCE GHOST

Among all the noise, there were several retailers that released important results. As a major source of employment in South Africa and with businesses to which everyone can relate, this sector is always deserving of attention.

Lewis: the pick of the litter

The narrative around furniture group Lewis nothing like it used to be. For years, this was a story of tepid growth and a focus on cost control, and its capital allocation strategy took full advantage of the benefits of share buybacks.

Now, Lewis is behaving like a growth stock with double-digit revenue growth and a colossal jump in headline earnings per share (Heps) of 60.3% for the year ended March. Such has been the extent of share price growth that it didn't do any share buybacks at all in the second half of the financial year.

Can Lewis keep it up? Somehow, it has managed to boost credit sales without sacrificing the quality of the debtors' book. This is a Holy Grail outcome, as retailers that sell on credit must always consider the benefit of additional sales against the risk of credit losses.