Profitability of African stores convinces Massmart to build new ones

Massmart CEO Guy Hayward is not too stressed about the growth of its African operations outside South Africa even though they contributed just 9% to earnings in the first half. That was because over the years the stores elsewhere in Africa had been more profitable for the retailer, Hayward said."Our Africa stores make more money as a percentage of sales than our South African stores do, and that is because the sales density is so much higher there.