In between a global pandemic and a economy free fall, Mr Price Group, a South African retailer of mid-range clothing, sports goods and homeware retailer, has announced plans to exit Nigeria. Before now, MRP has already closed 4 out of its 5 locations across the country, the CEO Mark Blair stated clearly at the group’s full-year results presentation on Thursday that it will be shutting down the last one in the next few months.
After reporting a 10.4% decline in annual earnings, Blair says he isn’t prepared to invest any more time and money into a country that is ‘volatile’ as it is. “In the early days we were making money but now we just came up against too many roadblocks, whether it’s getting the money out, etc,” he noted.
According to Reuters, the company has identified 300 million rand worth of cost saving initiatives, which are largely related to employment costs and also include a 23% reduction in budgeted capital expenditure for the 2021 financial year. The decision to exit the continent’s largest market comes shortly after another South African retailer folded operations in Kenya and Ghana.
