South Africa has less than a third of Nigeria’s population, yet it is in Africa’s most industrialised economy that the likes of Shoprite Holdings, Multichoice (DSTV) and MTN make the most cash.
The sales data of all three firms show that their South African operations contributed a combined 58.5 percent to Group revenue in 2018 and 2019.
Historically, with exception to MTN, the South African units of Shoprite and Multichoice have always outperformed the Nigerian unit.
This finding negates a widely-held view among most people that Nigerian operations are the life blood of these South African companies.
More than 90 percent of respondents in a BusinessDay survey assumed Nigeria is the largest market for the companies.
This is not to say the Nigerian market doesn’t matter to these companies, but talks about its relevance are slightly exaggerated.
Here’s what numbers gleaned from the annual report of these companies say.
Shoprite
Shoprite is Africa’s largest retailer with 2,934 outlets across 15 countries on the continent and an employee base of 147,268.
Contrary to assumptions that the Nigerian business contributes the most to the Group’s revenue because Nigeria has a larger population, the South African business is actually the dominant unit.
Shoprite’s supermarkets in South Africa contributed 75 percent to total group sales as at the end of June 2019, an increase from 74 percent in 2018, according to the company’s financial statement.
The Nigerian unit, along with other non-South Africa operations, contributed 14.2 percent as at June, a decline from 15.2 percent in 2018, dragged by Angola and Nigeria.
Sales growth (in dollar terms) in the Angolan unit declined 38.4 percent while sales growth in Nigeria recorded zero growth, literally 0.00 percent.
In local currency terms, Nigeria’s sales growth of 5.6 percent was dwarfed by Ghana’s (16 percent), Zambia’s (10 percent) and Madagascar’s (8.8 percent).
Multichoice
Multi-choice are owners of satellite TV, DSTV and Gotv. With presence in 49 geographies, it is Africa’s largest pay-tv operator.
Its South African operations contributed 67.3 percent to Group revenue, according to information gleaned from its 2019 annual report published on its website. The South African business has a customer base of 7.4 million in full-year 2019 (going by the firm’s unconventional calendar which means the year ends in June.)
The rest of Africa, including Nigeria, contributed 29.6 percent of the Group revenue, which is less than the South Africa contribution.
Of the non-South African operations, Nigeria accounted for 34 percent, ahead of Kenya (11 percent) and Zambia (10 percent).
The Nigerian market however trailed the combined operations of other (ex-South Africa) African countries which was 45 percent.
This means that while Nigeria is the company’s single largest market after South Africa, it is not as important as other African operations combined. What this then implies is that while shutting the Nigeria unit will affect the company to some extent, saying it would cause the company to collapse is slightly exaggerated.
In fact, their non-South African operations, including Nigeria, has been loss-making for two years in a row now.
In 2019, while the South African business turned a trading profit of 10.2 billion rand (ZAR), the company reported a loss of 3.7 billion rand.
Then we have MTN Nigeria.
MTN is the largest wireless phone carrier in Nigeria with 61.5 million subscribers as at June 2019. That’s almost three times the subscriber base of 24 million in South Africa.
However, those numbers don’t correlate with revenues. The most revenue is made in South Africa.
According to its annual financial report for 2018, the Nigerian unit contributed 28 percent of the Group revenue while the South African unit contributed 33.2 percent.
The Nigerian unit has declined in contribution to revenue on the back of currency devaluations.
However, there’s scope for the Nigerian unit to generate more revenue than the SA unit in the future as data and fin tech revenues grow.
As at 2018 though, the SA unit contributed the most to revenue. Same applies for Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA).
Analysts say the sales data of Shoprite, Multichoice and MTN reflects the fact that average incomes in Nigeria are lower than in South Africa.
While the average South African earns close to $5,000, the average Nigerian earns about half of that at around $2,000.
This implies that consumer spending in South Africa is larger than that of Nigeria even though the latter boasts superior population numbers.
LOLADE AKINMURELE
