In delivering on the group\u2019s strategic objectives, management aims to balance and optimise the trade-offs between capitals to ensure long-term growth and sustainability.<\/p>\n
While the commitment to investing in manufactured, intellectual, human and social and relationship capital erode financial capital in the short term, the long-term benefits are re\ufb02ected in the group\u2019s industry-leading financial and operating metrics and sustained shareholder value creation.<\/p>\n
Limiting the environmental impact of the operations to reduce the rate at which natural capital is depleted has a significant impact on financial impact in the short to medium term but should deliver the desired long-term benefits as the group ultimately moves towards carbon neutrality.<\/p>\n
The key constraints encountered during the year were in relation to manufactured capital<\/strong>. The global supply chain disruption which started during the Covid-19 pandemic continued and was compounded by the impact of the war in the Ukraine in the second half of the financial year. This has resulted in significantly increased transport costs due to rising fuel prices while seasonal merchandise has been secured and imported several months earlier than required to mitigate delays in shipping, which has negatively impacted working capital.<\/p>\n Loadshedding due to electricity supply constraints has had a significant impact on turnover owing to shorter trading hours in shopping centres and disruption of shopping patterns. The group has invested more than R57 million in alternative power solutions to limit the impact of electricity outages.<\/p>\n The weak economic environment and rising fuel, energy, food and borrowing costs has constrained consumer disposable income which has negatively affected discretionary retail spending. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the aftermath of the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021 were further constraints to trading.<\/p>\n The group previously encountered a constraint in securing new trading space in existing shopping centres. However, owing to the economic impact of Covid-19 and resultant closure of many retail outlets, the group has been able to accelerate its store opening programme, with 92 stores opened in the past two pandemic-impacted financial years.<\/p>\n The group has no financial capital<\/strong> constraints owing to the strong cash \ufb02ows generated by the operations and access to borrowings. Should these financial resources prove insufficient, the group\u2019s strong balance sheet will enable management to access further loan funding or raise capital through the issue of shares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Material trade-offs of capitals In delivering on the group\u2019s strategic objectives, management aims to balance and optimise the trade-offs between capitals to ensure long-term growth and sustainability. While the commitment to investing in manufactured, intellectual, human and social and relationship capital erode financial capital in the short term, the long-term benefits are re\ufb02ected in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-busmodel.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-561","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n