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Walmart-owned Massmart said the retailer lost R6 billion in total sales due to Covid-19 restrictions, including liquor.
It also expects its net loss to widen by 30.9% to 35.9% from R1.3bn in 2019.
The group said in an update to shareholders on Friday that it said some of the effects of Covid-19 were mitigated by rent relief for landlords and benefits from the government’s wage relief plan.
Massmart reported that the group’s sales declined 7.7% to R86.5 billion during the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2020.
Massmart, owner of Game, Makro and Builders Warehouse, announced that it would close the DionWired technology chain and 11 Masscash stores in January 2020.
Masscash targets low to middle income consumers, and its stores include Jumbo Cash and Carry, Trident and Shield and Cambridge Food under its retail division.
Fin24 previously reported that the Competition Court-approved merger between Devland and Masscash will save 640 jobs.
However, Massmart has only managed to sell eight Masscash stores and the group said the potential sale of the remaining three stores is still being considered.
It has made the decision to divest an additional 14 Masscash stores in order to optimize the group’s store portfolio.
The group incurred staff reduction costs of R132 million related to the closure of DionWired, the closure of the Masscash stores, and the reorganization of the operating model at the Game store level.
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