Dis-Chem has announced its results for the 12 months ended 28 February 2026, reporting Group revenue growth of 9.3% to R42.8 billion amid a constrained consumer environment, while continuing to invest significantly in its long-term integrated healthcare ecosystem strategy.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS) were 114.2 cents and 113.7 cents respectively, decreases of 17.1% and 17.4% compared to the prior period. Excluding the once-off property gain in the comparative period, EPS and HEPS declined by 11.5% and 11.8% respectively.
Excluding the investment in the ecosystem, and the non-recurring expenses in the current and prior periods, Group profit before tax was up 20.1%. The company has declared a dividend of 15.9 cents per share.
Chief Executive Officer Rui Morais says, “The Group generated strong revenue performance in an environment where the consumer continued to be financially constrained, while improving total income margin and gaining market share across all core retail categories. Following the front-loaded investments in X, bigly labs, proof points include the launch of Better Rewards; a new analytically led promotional engine; and new Health Hub store format , that empowers operations to enable lower-cost and greater-access healthcare delivery. These investments serve to evolve the Group from retail pharmacy to integrated healthcare provider and continue to reinforce the importance of data-led retailing.”
“Our ecosystem investments are aimed at transitioning the Group from a pharmacy retailer to an integrated healthcare provider by positioning Dis-Chem as South Africa’s go to health authority with the purpose of increasing access to and reducing the cost of care. We are creating an ecosystem that positions the Group to play the dual role of healthcare provider and funder, using an innovative operating model to reimagine and disrupt the way South Africans access healthcare. At the same time, we are strengthening healthcare delivery across both products and services, creating a defensive moat that secures the traditional retail basket in an ever-increasing competitive environment.”
Morais says the Group is already seeing tangible proof points from its ecosystem investments, including increased shopping frequency, higher participation across key healthcare categories, improved promotional efficiency and accelerating market share gains.
Core Retail Trading Performance
Trading performance in the core retail business remained strong. Excluding the R445 million invested in the ecosystem and eliminating non-recurring expenses, core retail profit before tax, excluding the prior year’s once-off property gain, increased by 27.1% over the comparable period.
Of the R445 million invested during the period, 75% or R330 million was allocated to establishing and operationalising X, bigly labs and Dis-Chem Life. The X, bigly labs investment is aimed at generating significant returns in the core retail business over time with an expectation for net positive returns in FY2027. Areas of ongoing investments include the relaunch of the Group’s app and broader e-commerce offering, modernised data, analytics and AI platforms, and enterprise acceleration initiatives aimed at improving efficiencies and lowering the cost of healthcare delivery.
The key driver of the strong core retail performance was positive operating leverage, with like-for-like retail sales growth of 5.3% exceeding like-for-like payroll cost growth of 3.5%.
Revenue
Group revenue increased by 9.3% to R42.8 billion for the 12 months ended 28 February 2026.
Retail revenue grew by 9.0% to R36.6 billion, with comparable pharmacy store revenue growth of 5.3%. Net store changes included the opening and acquisition of 31 retail pharmacy stores and the closure of three Baby City stores, resulting in a footprint of 316 retail pharmacy stores and 42 retail baby stores at year end.
For the 17 weeks since the launch of the Better Rewards programme, revenue increased by 9.6% compared to the corresponding period. Revenue growth of participating Better Rewards brands increased by 12.0%, with volume growth of 18.7%.
The Group said the consistency of an always-on, health-relevant, lowest-priced basket is driving increased shopping frequency, with market share growth in volume terms across all core retail categories improving by 1.1 percentage points over the period.
Wholesale revenue increased by 13.1% to R34.0 billion. Wholesale revenue to the Group’s own retail stores grew by 13.5%, while external revenue to independent pharmacies and The Local Choice (TLC) franchisees grew by 11.3%.
Independent pharmacy growth of 7.2% was driven by both new customers and increased support from the existing base, while TLC growth of 16.4% reflected an increase in franchise stores from 240 to 280.
Total Income
Excluding the prior year property gain, total income increased by 9.6% to R13.2 billion, with Group total income margin improving slightly to 30.8% from 30.7%.
Retail total income increased by 12.2%, with retail margin improving from 30.3% to 31.1%. The increase was driven by stronger transactional gross margins across dispensary and healthcare categories, supported by data-informed promotional strategies led by the commercial decision intelligence team within X, bigly labs.
Expenses
Group expenses increased by 13.0% over the comparable period as the Group continued to invest in expansion and innovation initiatives.
Retail expenses increased by 15.7%, driven by new store openings and ecosystem investment. Retail employment costs, excluding the X, bigly labs investment, increased by 10.3%. Like-for-like retail employment costs were well maintained at 3.5% due to the successful implementation of staffing framework 1.0 and progress made on staffing framework 2.0.
Wholesale expenses increased by only 2.6%, reflecting continued operational efficiencies despite additional employee and courier costs associated with the expansion into the Long Meadow warehouse.
Outlook
For the period from 1 March 2026 to 19 May 2026, Group revenue increased by 9.0% over the comparable period.
Retail revenue increased by 8.8%, supported by the opening of eight pharmacy stores and continued market share gains from Better Rewards, while wholesale revenue to external customers grew by 10.4%.
Importantly, the Group’s total income margin increased to 32.0%, highlighting the sustainability of the Better Rewards programme and its role in driving positive operating leverage and future earnings growth.
“The consumer environment is expected to remain constrained; however, our innovation pipeline, data-led commercial strategy and ecosystem investments continue to position the business for long-term sustainable growth,” says Morais.
Strategic priorities for FY2027 include rolling out the Health Hub format stores across new and selected revamp sites, integrating healthcare services into a more connected and operationally efficient customer experience. The new format reduces the cost to serve, maximises efficiency and revenue return, and shifts integrated healthcare delivery from a secondary service to the very core of the store. The Group will drive continued acceleration of new store openings with 34 pharmacy stores planned for the year; restructuring the operating model to support clearer accountability and stronger cohesion and integration with X, bigly labs; continued implementation of staffing framework 2.0; and the complete revamp of digital channels and online retailing and healthcare access.
The Group will also continue prioritising employee wellbeing and engagement, recognising employees as ambassadors for its integrated healthcare strategy and central to delivering a more connected healthcare and retail experience, while continuing to build a purpose-led healthcare organisation.
