Slowdown compounds Lewis’s woes

The Lewis Group expects a decrease of between 24% and 29% in headline earnings per share for the year to the end of March.

Cape Town - The Lewis Group, which recently said it was facing another round of action from the National Consumer Tribunal, said on Tuesday it expected a decrease of 24-29 percent in headline earnings per share for the year to the end of March.

The group announced less than a month ago that it was facing a second round of action from the National Consumer Tribunal over alleged breaches of the National Credit Act, which could result in a hefty fine.

Read: Lewis expands in Lesotho and Botswana

Tuesday’s statement noted that trading conditions had become increasingly challenging in the second half of the year thanks to “the further slowdown in the economy, higher levels of unemployment in the group’s target market and the introduction of the National Credit Regulator’s affordability assessment guidelines which negatively impacted credit sales”.

Lewis added that trading in the fourth quarter had been hit by aggressive discounting by a competitor ahead of store closures.

The full results are expected on May 25.

ANA