JSE-listed retailer Pepkor Holdings on Tuesday said eight in 10 prepaid cellular handsets sold in South Africa are now sold through its stores.

Citing March 2025 research data from GfK and the Retailers’ Liaison Committee, Pepkor said this figure has risen by about 10 percentage points — from 70% to 80% — in the past year, representing growth of more than 14% over that period.

“The number of cellular handsets sold by the group increased by 17% to 6.8 million during the period… Smartphone penetration increased, as the group makes smartphones more affordable, accounting for 65% of handsets sold,” it said in notes with its interim financial results for the six months to end-March 2025, published on Tuesday.

“Combined with the group’s expansive store network as a powerful distribution channel, Pepkor has cemented its position as the clear leader in the cellular market, backed by a differentiated and highly resilient strategy.”

Indeed, trading performance in the latest six-month reporting period was lifted by what Pepkor — which is by far the largest retailer of cellphones in South Africa — described as “solid growth in cellular connectivity”.

FoneYam, the group’s newly developed cellular handset rental product launched in 2024 and designed to make smartphones more affordable for customers, continued to grow strongly, Pepkor said. Active customers breached the 1.5 million mark by the end of the reporting period. Monthly activations averaged 165 000 over the period.

FoneYam

“The newly developed FoneYam smartphone rental product has been highly successful, allowing more than 1.5 million customers to acquire smartphones by solving previous affordability barriers,” it said. “FoneYam also made a meaningful contribution to group profitability during the period.”

Pepkor reported a 12.4% rise in half-year earnings, while revenue grew 12.8%, supported by improved product availability and the strong growth in cellular connectivity.

The owner of Pep and Ackermans clothing brands said headline earnings per share (Heps) from continuing operations rose to 84.3c, up from 75c a year ago. Normalised Heps grew by 18.9%.

Group revenue grew by 12.8% to R48.8-billion, with the clothing and general merchandise segment increasing revenue by 9.5% to R34.5-billion, and the furniture, appliances and electronics segment up by 9.1% to R6.5-billion.

Its fintech business increased revenue by 34.5% to R7.9-billion, driven by 67.3% growth in financial services.

Read: MTN to sell 4G smartphones for as little as R99

Group merchandise sales growth of 10% benefited from improved product availability as local port congestion subsided, the retailer said. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media, with additional reporting by Nqobile Dludla, © 2025 Reuters

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