The Southern African Footwear & Leather Industries Association (SAFLIA) was also a signatory to the export charter unveiled at the SA Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) AGM in July.
       In the report in the last S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine, John Comley was listed as a signatory on behalf of the Footwear & Leather Industries Cluster (FLIC), "where he was in fact authorised by the SAFLIA Exco to sign on SAFLIA's behalf", SAFLIA executive director Jirka Vymetal said. Comley is a SAFLIA Exco member as well as chairman of FLIC. At the ceremony, Ernest Heunis, who is executive manager of FLIC and chairman of the Skins, Hides & Leather Council (SHALC), signed on behalf of FLIC and SHALC.
       Reacting to the report, Vymetal said: "The only point we're making is that SAFLIA has always actively promoted exports and has been a key player in government assistance programmes which have made manufacturers more competitive. It is also the main sponsor of the Arsutoria trend and design courses held annually which are at least as beneficial for export ranges as they are for the domestic market. And when it comes to industry participation in negotiations between governments and trade blocs affecting exports, it is SAFLIA which represents the industry."

Cape Town, W Cape, SA (August 15, 2019) – Revenue for the year increased by 1.7% to R19.6 billion (2018: R19.3 billion), gross profit was 1.7% higher at R9.3 billion (2018: R9.2 billion) whilst operating profit dropped by 58.1% to R1.7 billion (2018: R3.9 billion). Profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the company was recorded at R872 million (2018: R2.6 billion). Furthermore, headline earnings per share decreased by 8.6% to 562.8 cents per share (2018: 615.7 cents per share).
       Final dividend: The directors of the company have resolved to declare a final gross cash dividend from retained earnings in respect of the 52-week period ended 30 June 2019 in the amount of 135 South African cents (2018: 159 South African cents) per ordinary share to shareholders reflected in the company's register on the record date, being Friday, 13 September 2019.
Company outlook Truworths Africa: Consumer spending in South Africa is expected to remain under pressure in the short term owing to the effects of the prolonged economic downturn and renewed demands on disposable income. The labour market continues to weaken with unemployment at a 15-year high level. However, consumer confidence has stabilised following the country’s national elections in May 2019 and the improvement in the power supply in recent months, while consumer inflation remains steady.
       The stronger retail sales growth trend reported by Truworths in the second half of the 2019 financial period is promising and sales momentum is expected to be driven by the expanding e-commerce offering, the layby payment option and customer response to new store concepts, including ID Kids and Context.
       Truworths’ medium-term prospects will be supported by the health of the account portfolio, continued investment for growth, robust cash flows and strong balance sheet. Truworths’ retail sales for the first six weeks of the 2020 reporting period increased 1.2% compared to the first six weeks of the prior period.

Office: Trading conditions and consumer confidence remain under intense pressure ahead of the end-October 2019 Brexit deadline, and it is expected that the retail sector will remain constrained in the medium term.
       Management has over the past few months implemented several turnaround initiatives across the areas of trading (buying and planning), cost control, capital expenditure and brands and marketing and these are all progressing according to plan despite the difficult trading conditions. Inventory management remains a significant focus area to arrest gross profit margin decline and release working capital. Management is critically evaluating the real estate portfolio with a view to closing loss-making stores as leases come to an end.        Based on an in-depth assessment by advisers, a major financial restructure of Office is not being contemplated given its current profitability, liquidity and cash position.        Office’s retail sales for the first six weeks of the 2020 reporting period increased 3.0% in Sterling compared to the first six weeks of the prior period.

Group: Capital expenditure and trading space: Capital expenditure of R581 million (Truworths R537 million and Office GBP2.5 million) has been committed for the 2020 reporting period. Trading space is expected to increase by 0.6% (Truworths increase 0.7% and Office decrease 3.0%).

This is an extract from the report.
Johanesburg, Gauteng, SA (August 14, 2019) – Shareholders are referred to the various announcements regarding the delay in the publication of the Company's financial results for the year ended 30 June 2018 and the related cautionary statements, the last of which was published on 2 August 2019. This cautionary is separate from the last cautionary published on 2 August 2019.
       Shareholders are advised that the board of directors of Choppies ("the Board") has completed a strategic review of its South African business. As a consequence, the board has concluded that exiting the South African market is the appropriate strategic decision for the Company.
       Accordingly, Choppies has commenced a process which may result in the divestment of Choppies Supermarkets SA (Pty) Ltd. in whole or in part and which if successfully concluded, may have a material effect on the price of Choppies securities. The board informs stakeholders of the appointment of Redford Capital (also engaged as ‘Chief Restructuring Officer' of the Company), to the role of Sole Lead Co-ordinator and Advisor on behalf of Choppies in respect of advising on and executing the divestiture transaction process.
       Interested parties can participate in the ‘Expression of Interest' process at www.choppies-eoi.com.
       Redford Capital is not a related party to Choppies (in terms of the Botswana Stock Exchange Ltd. ("BSEL") Equity Listings Requirements).
       Per the announcement published on 1 November 2018, the trading of the Company shares on both the BSEL and Johannesburg Stock Exchange ("JSE") remains suspended until further notice.

"Thursday and Friday were quite good, today has been fairly quiet. Month end and beginning of the month are generally okay, but it's no more like it was. I've introduced hair braids and cosmetics to the business, and they are doing well." - Shehnaz Desai, manager, Fashion Feet, KwaDukuza, KZN, SA. Independent, 1 store, mainly women's budget footwear.

"It picked up on Thursday afternoon, but the rest of the week has been quiet. We did well during the school holidays, but since then it's been quiet." - Muhammed Omar, director, Fashion Square, Durban, KZN, SA. Independent, 1 store, budget family outfitter.

"The weekend has been quiet. People here like to go away for long weekends. But I'm sure it will pick up again around the 15th and the 25th, when people get paid." - Camara Amadou, member, Fashion Wear, Pretoria, Gauteng, SA. Independent, 1 store, men's and women's boutique.

"August is normally not a good month because of the change of season. As for the long weekend, what we've noticed is that when a public holiday makes a long weekend, people go away and there's very little business. I've had this business for 4 years, and previously I was open as often as I could be, because you can't sell if you're not open and if you don't have stock. This weekend I didn't open on Friday, only on Saturday, and it wasn't busy. As for the future, nothing seems to be happening from the government that we can see, so these are scary times. We'll just have to wait and see." - Marlan Naicker, member, Featherby's for Shoes, East London, E Cape, SA. Independent, 1 store, women's footwear specialist.

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – The Tribunal has approved the merger in terms of which OMPE GP IV (Pty) Ltd (in its capacity as a partner of OMPE Fund) intends to acquire control in Footgear Holdings (Pty) Ltd.
       OMPE Fund controls MoreCorp which is active in the retail for the provision of golf and cycling footwear, whereas Footgear is a retailer of general and casual footwear.
       The Commission, in its assessment of the merger, concluded that no competition or public interests concerns arise from this merger.