Bidcorp has once again delivered a very solid performance for the year to June 2025, in a somewhat
challenging and uncertain trading environment. Revenue grew by 6,8% in constant currency, and after
adjusting for bolt-on acquisitions and our food-basket inflation, our top line has grown by a highly
commendable 4,5% in real organic terms.
As an international business with 94% of its revenue base outside of South Africa, constant currency
measures are the truer reflection of actual performance. In terms of this, headline earnings per share (HEPS)
increased by 9,6% to 2 635,8 cents per share (F2024: 2 405,5 cents per share). In rand translated results,
HEPS grew by 6,5% to 2 562,7 cents per share, reflecting the impact of the stronger rand. Basic earnings
per share (EPS) increased by 1,8% to 2 435,3 cents per share, primarily due to the losses incurred on the
exit of our German, Vietnamese, and Jordanian operations.
Our European businesses delivered a good performance with double-digit growth in revenues and trading
profits in home currencies despite difficult macro conditions. Other than Portugal, which is in an investment
phase, all businesses delivered a stronger result. The UK delivered an improved performance in its core
foodservice operations, also benefiting from an acquisition to bolster its regional independent activities.
Emerging Markets was buoyed by an excellent performance from our South African businesses. However,
Greater China remains subdued by the macro environment and Singapore is emerging from its realignment.
Both Australia and New Zealand delivered very satisfactory trading performances considering the weaker
macro conditions in each country.
Activity levels in Q1 were impacted by unseasonally cold and wet September weather in the northern
hemisphere, coupled with extreme weather-related flooding in Eastern Europe, however, there was an
improvement into Q2 and the festive season. Q3 was flattish largely due to the timing of the Easter holidays
but activity rebounded into Q4. Food inflation had no real impact until late in the year, however, cost inflation
remains sticky, driven by ongoing wage pressures and higher supply chain costs. With tighter economic
conditions in many geographies, customers remain price-sensitive, and competition has expectedly been
robust.
Investment activity, primarily into new distribution capacity, has continued to cater for current and future
growth. Twelve foodservice bolt-on opportunities were converted in the year, primarily adding to our
geographic reach in existing geographies. Our global teams are to be congratulated for adapting to
prevailing market conditions and again, successfully delivering our strategic foodservice focus.
Distribution
The board has declared a final cash dividend of 600,0 cents per share for the year ended June 30 2025
(F2024: 565,00 cents per share), an increase of 6,2% and approximately 2,2 times HEPS cover, in line with
group policy.
Financial overview
Net revenue of R235,6 billion (F2024: R225,9 billion) rose by 4,3%
(constant currency increase of 6,8%), reflecting both real organic and
acquisitive growth, despite almost zero food inflation and a flattish
contribution from Australasia.
Gross profit percentage at 24,5% (F2024: 24,1%) was pleasing,
particularly as several businesses aggressively sacrificed some margin
to maintain volumes and grow their market shares. The cost-of-doing-business
(CODB) increased to 19,0% (F2024: 18,7%), driven primarily
by higher cost inflation, particularly labour, which is persistently
tracking higher than food inflation. The gains in gross margins have
more than offset the increased CODB.
Businesses are continually refining their sales mix and product range
to grow in the segment of the market that delivers sustainable returns.
We continually look at innovative solutions for customers, however,
we are efficient and operate a high-service model in growing markets.
Group trading profit increased by 6,4% to R12,9 billion (F2024: R12,2 billion) and 9,3% in constant currency. F2025 trading profit
margins improved to 5,5%, slightly higher than F2024 at 5,4%.
Net finance charges (excluding IFRS 16 charges) increased by 8,6%
to R630,7 million (F2024: R580,6 million). Interest costs compared to
a year ago are higher due to working capital requirements, increased
debt utilised to finance acquisitions, ongoing capital investments for
growth, and higher dividend payments to shareholders.
Overall free cash flow is lower than F2024 but within expectations
considering the investments made in the year of R8,8 billion. Bidcorp
absorbed working capital of R0,8 billion reflecting higher overall
activity levels but also our growing "supply solution" offerings through
importing Own Brand products. Average working capital days was
11,4 days (F2024: 9,6 days) and working capital percentage to
revenue at 3,5% (F2024: 3,2%).
Gross capital investments in property, plant, and equipment of
R6,3 billion (F2024: R5,8 billion) remain elevated and include
R3,8 billion of expansionary investments in new capacity, the largest
portion of which has been invested in the UK.
Non-IFRS 16 net debt to EBITDA at 0,4x (0,2x on F2024) is higher
but remains low notwithstanding working capital absorption, capital
investments and acquisitions. Non-IFRS 16 EBITDA interest cover is
at 23,1x (F2024: 23,2x), both well within group covenants.
Trading Margin (%)
Annual Operations Returns (%)
ROFE excludes freehold property.
Headline Earnings Per Share (cents)
Dividend Per Share (cents)
Strategy
Bidcorp's focus is on the wholesaling of food and allied products
servicing the eating-out-of-home market through developing our
Own Brand and imports, moving into niche value-add manufacturing,
focusing on selling to the correct mix of customers, serviced by
well-located modern infrastructure, and enabled by world-class
technology solutions. Growth is further supplemented by in-territory
bolt-on acquisitions to expand geographic reach and product range,
or via strategic acquisitions to enter new markets.
Each of our businesses are at differing stages of maturity and
development along our foodservice continuum, those developing
are focused on building scale, while the more mature operations are
focused on enhancing their value-add proposition to their customer
base. The unique interaction of these various components is what
continues to propel each business forward. We believe in each
business' autonomy and manage them independently, however,
encourage cooperation and sharing of ideas and learnings, with the
aim to maximise the benefit of our global scale, experience, expertise
and combined intellectual property for the collective benefit of the
group and its stakeholders. We are continually reviewing the portfolio
of businesses to ensure focus on those which we believe can scale
in their respective markets and deliver acceptable returns over time
to stakeholders.
Prospects
Activity levels in the group through July and August are encouraging
considering that the weather in the northern hemisphere, which plays
an important part of driving consumer spending and activity levels,
has been less than ideal. In Australia, activity is expected to slowly
improve into F2026 while in New Zealand, recessionary conditions are
abating, however, the return to growth is likely to be prolonged. UK
activity remains lacklustre, however, our business remains firmly on its
path to margin recovery through efficiency gains and new customer
gains. Our Emerging Markets businesses are anticipating growth,
despite volatile macro conditions in many markets.
Cost inflation, mainly derived from high wage levels, is anticipated to
remain sticky and elevated, driven by continued regulatory increases.
We are expecting an uptick in food inflation, some of which became
evident in late F2025. Moderate levels of food inflation can potentially
alleviate the margin constricting conditions experienced over the past
months. Consumer spend is likely to remain at similar levels as the
cost-of-living crisis continues with higher interest rates likely to prevail
for longer. Notwithstanding the current volatility and uncertainty, we
are confident that the medium to long-term growth fundamentals of
the foodservice industry remain positive.
We continue to invest in strategic distribution facilities to provide for
future capacity as well as value-added manufacturing opportunities,
however, the rate of spend is expected to moderate.
These investments are the correct long-term decisions for the
group to ensure the future growth of the businesses despite being
negative in the short term in terms of profitability and returns.
New technologies for renewable energy, refrigeration, energy
efficiency, and logistics optimisation remain a strategic imperative to
minimising our environmental footprint.
Four bolt-on acquisitions have already been concluded in the new
financial year, with several more opportunities under consideration.
The pipeline of opportunities remains full, however, we remain
circumspect in converting the ones most likely to fit our strategic
focus. We remain alert to opportunities in new geographies; however,
these have been scarce to date, and our participation therein is
opportunistic.
Investment continues into our ecommerce and customer relationship
platforms, to enhance customer experiences, streamline operations
and promote resilience and efficiencies as well as into modernising
our digital backbone. The potential of AI solutions is gathering pace
across all businesses in sales opportunities, margin optimisation,
inventory management, as well as operating efficiencies.
We continue to deliver on our foodservice strategy, enabled by our
excellent management teams and people, and through our fit-for-purpose
business model. Consumer conditions are not expected to
materially improve into F2026; however, we will continue to focus on
those factors that we can control and not on what we cannot and
adapt and maximise the opportunities which inevitably arise.
Accordingly, we are budgeting to continue delivering real growth in
the year ahead.
Divisional review
Australasia
In Australia and New Zealand trading conditions were challenging, with New Zealand enduring a recession
for much of the year. Weak consumer sentiment and plummeting customer profitability translated into fierce
competition. Australasia's results were flat but satisfactory as the division successfully contended with
severe economic headwinds and heightened competition. In constant currency, revenue was up 2,3% to
R47,8 billion (F2024: R46,8 billion) and trading profit was up by 0,3% to R4,0 billion (F2024: 4,0 billion).
Australia is celebrating 30 years of trading in F2025 — continuing to deliver excellent products and service.
An environment of heightened competition and pricing pressure translated into some strategically lost
margin, necessary to maintain market share. Despite these challenges, results were solid. Revenue rose
3% in a zero-food inflation environment, while trading profit margin was maintained.
Foodservice bore the brunt of the challenging conditions, while Bidfood Supply Solutions achieved double-digit
top-line growth. Own Brand product penetration made pleasing strides. Simply Food Solutions (our niche
manufacturing arm) fared well in the year and is poised for robust growth.
Additional capacity was created by extending our Emerald Queensland operation and moving our Canberra
operations to a new purpose-built facility. All new facilities are solar equipped, with energy-efficient
refrigeration and lighting, as well as rainwater harvesting.
Costs were well managed in spite of the higher core inflation. Staff turnover and wage inflation added pressure,
however, we responded by investing in our people, with training and development efforts ensuring that we have
the most skilled and customer-focused team.
Encouragingly, consumer sentiment improved towards the end of the year, moving from being sharply
negative, to neutral, and now positive.
New Zealand experienced a prolonged recession, business failures were on the rise and tourism has yet
to return to its pre-COVID-19 levels. While we were impacted along with the rest of the market, we fared
well due to our inherent strengths: a comprehensive depot footprint close to our customers; an IT
infrastructure that is increasingly improving the quality of customer engagement; a lean and efficient team;
and the "right" products and services for the "right" customers.
Growth in revenue was hard to come by, but we achieved this by sometimes yielding margin. All of our
divisions, including Foodservice, Fresh, and Simply Food Solutions, delivered a commendable performance.
Prioritising growth in Own Brand and manufactured premium products, as well as imports, served us well.
Overall we are very pleased with only a 5% reduction in profitability.
Tight control was maintained over costs, which largely mitigated the decline in gross margins. Core inflation
remained elevated but there was some easing in wage inflation on the back of rising unemployment.
Despite these conditions, we continued to invest for growth, with the new Wellington distribution centre
(DC) opening at the end of June 2025, the Waipapa DC due to open in October 2025, and with the
upgrade of the Aspire Foods facility in Christchurch underway. Considerable focus has also been given to
ensuring that new investment meets sustainability criteria. A feasibility study on solar energy for all DCs is
underway, while our electric vehicle (EV) fleet was extended with three additional EV trucks operating from
the new Wellington DC.
New Zealand is by no means out of the economic woods yet, recent tough times have been used to make
the business more resilient and more focused, setting us up well to take advantage of the upturn in the
economy — when it comes.
United Kingdom (UK)
This year, the British market was characterised by intense competition as consumer confidence remained poor and there was minimal economic growth. Inflation and interest rates remained high and the heightened pressure on the hospitality sector continued. In these adverse trading conditions, Bidfood UK succeeded in delivering good growth and improved margins, growing revenue 5,6% to R67,5 billion (F2024: R63,9 billion) and trading profit 20,6% to R2,5 billion (F2024: R2,1 billion).
Bidfood UK’s trading profits were up on the back of good revenue growth. Gross profits rose and costs were well contained as wage bills grew faster than inflation. The much-anticipated national insurance and living wage increases, in April, were largely recovered through routine pricing and margin reviews.
Gross margins showed a steady improvement as strategic improvement initiatives gained traction. The Turner Price acquisition, completed in July 2024, exceeded expectations and made a solid contribution to revenue and profits.
Bidfood, the wholesale business, notched up a record performance, achieving increased profitability on higher revenue. Bidfood managed to grow its freetrade customer base and secured a number of new national accounts.
Bidfresh, with its main exposure to the hospitality and leisure sector, was affected by the prevailing tough trading conditions, resulting in decreased revenue but an excellent trading margin. Bidfresh ended the year strongly, benefiting from the spring upturn.
Caterfood Buying Group grew profits, boosted by a strong performance from the newly acquired Turner Price. Volumes were mostly depressed, affected by the same lacklustre activity in the independent hospitality and leisure markets. Simply Food Solutions performance improved in a tough market as it focused on securing new business.
Digital and software projects were executed to support improved operating efficiencies. Getting closer to our customers using online tools was a major priority.
Expenses were well controlled, although employment costs continued to rise above inflation as wage increases reflected growing labour shortages. Our people are what set us apart, so it was pleasing that our annual staff survey returned an employee engagement score of 85% – up 5% on the previous survey.
The Bidfood UK 2024 sustainability report was published at the end of the calendar year, highlighting a remarkable 92% reduction in food waste sent to landfill and a significant increase in food being distributed to charities. Detailing an innovative carbon footprint tool to calculate the environmental impact of individual foods during menu planning, facilitating better data collection, and dialogue with our suppliers and our customers.
Europe
Europe continued to excel, all businesses performing to expectation and several beyond, achieving
excellent growth in volumes and profits. In most markets, consumer demand for eating-out-of-home held
up, wage inflation was elevated on the back of low unemployment, and competition intensified. Revenue
rose by 7,3% to R88,0 billion (F2024: R82,0 billion). Trading profit results were similarly strong with an 8,9%
increase to R4,8 billion (F2024: R4,5 billion).
Bidfood Netherlands delivered another record performance, building on the progress made in recent
years. A number of national accounts were exited in the period, this was compensated by new business in
the freetrade sector. To serve the growing freetrade market, a new facility was commissioned in The Hague
in April. A project to redesign and upgrade our ecommerce platform has begun, working with BidOne.
We invested in 18 new electric trucks, something that is becoming essential in the Netherlands as stringent
environmental regulations will soon require that diesel vehicles be banned from city centres. We made good
strides towards meeting the impending reporting requirements of the European Union's Corporate
Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Bidfood Belgium enjoyed a successful year, with both revenue and trading profit improving by double
digits, boosted by contributions from the newly acquired VDS, effective September 2024. Expenses were
well contained in the face of higher wage inflation. Trading margins strengthened as the business focused
on the freetrade sector.
Belgium has a considerable number of solar installations contributing meaningfully to its energy
requirements. Leading in food waste incineration — we generated steam energy which lowered our
carbon emissions for a better, more responsible solution than sending waste to landfill.
Bidfood Czech Republic and Slovakia delivered improved profits and revenue benefiting from solid
demand and relatively high food inflation. Trading profit margins were maintained. Hungary is still in the
development stage.
The Czech Republic results were buoyed by resilient consumer spending with activity in the bigger cities
more robust but the rural areas often lagging. Competition for large, more price-sensitive, customers
remained pronounced but a stronger emphasis on the street trade paid dividends.
Slovakia was impacted as additional regulations of fees and taxes imposed on companies dampened
confidence, with the local horeca market showing little to no growth. Reflecting the growing maturity of our still
nascent Hungarian operation, a new ERP was implemented. The development of online and customer
mapping tools for our sales representatives has enjoyed considerable success in all markets.
In April, we opened our sixth depot, in Plana České Budějovice, in South Bohemia. We also doubled our
capacity at the Prešov depot in eastern Slovakia. On the back of increased activity, we also expanded our
fresh fish factory's capacity. We continued to invest in solar power and significantly reduced our food waste.
DAC Italy's bottom line improved slightly, but was negatively impacted because of additional costs
associated with the opening of the Rome warehouse early in the year.
New capacity comes with significant short-term incremental cost and it takes a few years to realise
operational efficiencies. Rome is, however, essential to our aspiration to grow our reach in central and
southern Italy. In this pursuit, we also concluded a small acquisition in Bari, in the south.
Restaurants and hotels across the country benefited from firmer consumer sentiment, derived from higher
wages and stable employment. We achieved double-digit sales growth and grew our market share,
particularly in the horeca space. Italy, with its large population and big tourism sector, remains an attractive
foodservice market.
Bidfood Poland achieved an outstanding result, where revenue rose and trading profits followed suit.
Increased trading margin reflects the growing maturity of this business; expenses were contained and
improvement in return on funds employed were encouraging. Working capital management was excellent.
With a focus on its traditionally strong freetrade segment, Bidfood Poland returned robust growth in both
this part of the market and in national accounts.
We completed an investment in a replacement 8 500m2 warehouse and office complex in Szczecin, to
better service Poland's northwest region; further depot expansions are planned. Investing for the future, we
continue to spend on IT — today two-thirds of all Bidfood Poland's customers are using our ecommerce
offerings.
Our Baltics operations in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia achieved pleasing results, both in revenue growth
and trading profits. Lithuania and Estonia both experienced improved economic outcomes while the Latvian
economy was stagnant. Inflationary pressures across all regions came from wages and logistics.
In the larger Lithuanian market, freetrade growth continued, although at lower profit margins on the back of
greater competition and rising costs. Estonia achieved good sales growth and began building a new
replacement depot. With an eye on range extension, Cesars, a Latvian distributor specialising in importing
Asian foodstuffs, was acquired which performed to expectations.
Bidfood Spain maintained its growth momentum, lifting revenue and profits. Organic growth remained
strong. Expansion continued apace with the acquisition of Colofruit, a mostly gourmet distributor focused
on Barcelona. Capital investment was mainly dedicated to land and buildings, including a replacement San
Sebastian warehouse and a replacement depot in Barcelona.
All businesses contributed to our strong overall performance. Guzman grew in all channels, focusing on
cross-selling and cost-saving opportunities. Euskopan concentrated on revenue optimisation. Igartza
maintained good growth and began expanding to the south of the Basque country.
Portugal underwent significant change this year, including reorienting the customer base towards freetrade.
The purchase of Gelgarve in February 2025, an aligned business in the Algarve, was a particular highlight,
growing revenues by more than a third. Freetrade growth exceeded expectations although pricing
pressures remained elevated. Trading profits were weighed down by higher operating expenses due to
increased staff capacity. Capital investments were focused on depot expansion in Lisbon which included
solar panels and further is planned in Porto. We introduced 100% recyclable, reusable plastic distribution
boxes to improve our efficiencies and minimise our carbon footprint.
Emerging Markets
Pockets of excellence drove a mixed but overall solid performance. Management constantly pivoted to
address and exploit market risks and opportunities. These included political turmoil, rampant inflation,
varying economic growth rates, fierce competition, and patchy consumer confidence. South Africa excelled
and the Middle East continued to grow, as Türkiye began to reap the benefits of recent investment. Our
Asian operations operated profitably while carrying out necessary restructuring exercises. Malaysia was
a standout success. Our South American operations mostly performed to expectations. Divisional revenue
rose 3,7% to R34,5 billion (F2024: R33,2 billion) and trading profits improved by 8,2% to R2,0 billion
(F2024: R1,8 billion).
Bidcorp Food Africa (BCFA) produced an outstanding result. This in the context of declining GDP
per capita, high interest rates and unemployment, and public-sector underperformance.
Bidfood South Africa (BSA) enjoyed robust growth, increasing its share of customers' baskets in the street
trade and airline catering segments, while pursuing growth in market share and volumes in the centre-ofplate
protein. Efficiencies were at world-class levels as were returns on funds employed.
Crown Food Group (CFG) grew well above inflation and competed strongly in most customer and product
categories. CFG continues to build on its range of consumer-focused retail. Both BSA and CFG made
substantial investments this year in solar power generation. Investments were made in IT enhancements
and marketing, including social media platforms.
With a view to ongoing succession planning, a "future leaders" programme was launched at BSA, targeting
talented staff under the age of 45. Training spend accordingly increased by almost 20%.
Chipkins Puratos, which is 50% equity accounted, grew trading profit and achieved particularly good results
on its own-manufactured business with several large account wins.
Bidfood Middle East (BME) was a solid contributor, boosting revenue and profits while investing for
growth. While geopolitics undermined investor confidence and tourism, overall economic growth remained
relatively strong, driven by reforms and the opening of the economies to foreign investment. BME is
focused on growing its range into the centre-of-the-plate categories and increasing its foodservice
customer universe. BME invested in a seafood value-add processing facility in Saudi. With an eye to the
future, investments were made in smart, AI-powered tools to optimise operations and reduce food waste
and energy consumption.
Türkiye translated economic turmoil, a weaker lira, and a very difficult operating environment, all in a very
high-inflation context, into growing revenue by more than 50%. Management concentrated on the core
foodservice offering, enhancing efficiencies of all business units, and driving profitability and efficient cash
management. The Kale Gıda acquisition was successfully bedded down, extending our reach into the
Çanakkale and Balıkesir regions.
Greater China (including Hong Kong) managed costs closely, minimising the decline in profitability, in the
face of lacklustre consumer spending and lower tourism flows in both mainland China and Hong Kong.
Numerous changes have been made to improve the profitability of the businesses. The team is focused on
growing the product range and increasing the number of foodservice customers they serve. Several electric
vehicles were acquired.
Following the previous restructure of the business, Singapore rebranded as Bidfood (previously Angliss).
Management refocused the sales team and improved business processes resulting in increasingly positive
results by yearend. Bidfood Innovations relocated to a larger, more modern site in October 2024. We
continued to invest in IT systems including in ecommerce with myBidfood going live in January 2025. In
a lacklustre market, optimising supply chains and inventory levels were prioritised, as was cost containment.
Malaysia exceeded projections, continuing to consolidate its market-leading position and grow its market
reach. Internal restructures undertaken in the previous year, progressed to plan, unlocking synergies, saving
costs and allowing the business to reach a larger customer base. Benefits from investments to expand
capacity and replace ageing facilities are expected to be felt towards the end of the next financial year and
into F2027. Post-yearend, an acquisition of an ambient goods business was completed which will
substantially increase our market presence.
Chile's economic recovery in F2025 continued, but QSRs and hotels struggled. Our broad spread of
customer segments enabled us to grow profitability. Focus on operational efficiency continues as well
as driving product margins through better selling and improved buying. The import programme was
increasingly successful. Customer numbers grew, as did the percentage of customers using the myBidfood
platform. Implementation of BidIQ for the sales force was successfully rolled out.
Brazil continued to strengthen its position in the state of São Paulo by widening the distribution area well
beyond São Paulo city. In a challenging economic environment with elevated interest rates and inflation,
consumer spend fell. In the face of headwinds, we reorganised our sales force and grew sales by double
digits. Improvements in operations, sales channels, and the digitisation journey continued. myBidfood broke
previous sales records and BidIQ was launched.
Blancaluna in Argentina was heavily impacted by the tough but necessary government economic reforms,
with the fall in consumer spending directly affecting our business. Despite this, the business managed
double-digit volume growth but at lower margins. The strengthening of the purchasing and sales team
resulted in better terms and efficiencies. Focus on a strong import drive and extension of the distribution
coverage into the interior, will see good momentum going into F2026.
Corporate
The BidOne digital commerce system has been adopted by most of the businesses in the group. The team
has strengthened the available digital capabilities, enabling more users to engage with the platforms and
supporting higher activity levels. Supplier tools were also enhanced, improving access to information and
streamlining workflows. Security remains a top priority, as are plans to leverage AI to benefit our operations.
Bidfood Procurement Community (BPC) procures a broad range of high-quality, ethically produced food
and non-food items for group companies. Its procurement strategy is closely aligned with the group's
priorities, with a focus on core categories that matter most to internal customers. BPC continues to expand
both its product offering and supply chain footprint, while ensuring that all suppliers adhere to rigorous
standards of quality, safety, management, and ethics.
BL Berson Chief executive officer
DE Cleasby Chief financial officer
Dividend declaration
In line with the group dividend policy, the directors declared a final cash dividend of 600,0 cents
(480,0 cents net of dividend withholding tax, where applicable) per ordinary share for the year ended
June 30 2025 to those members registered on the record date, being Friday, September 26 2025.
The dividend will be paid out of income reserves. A dividend withholding tax of 20% is applicable to all
shareholders who were not exempt.
Share code:
BID
ISIN:
ZAE000216537
Company registration number:
1995/008615/06
Company tax reference number:
9040946841
Gross cash dividend amount per share:
600,0 cents
Net dividend amount per share:
480,0 cents
Issued shares at declaration date:
336 904 212
Declaration date:
Wednesday, August 27 2025
Last day to trade cum dividend on the JSE:
Monday, September 22 2025
First trading day ex dividend on the JSE:
Tuesday, September 23 2025
Record date:
Friday, September 26 2025
Payment date:
Monday, September 29 2025
Share certificates may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between Tuesday, September 23 2025 to Friday, September 26 2025, both days inclusive.
Comment
Bidcorp has once again delivered a very solid performance for the year to June 2025, in a somewhat challenging and uncertain trading environment. Revenue grew by 6,8% in constant currency, and after adjusting for bolt-on acquisitions and our food-basket inflation, our top line has grown by a highly commendable 4,5% in real organic terms.
As an international business with 94% of its revenue base outside of South Africa, constant currency measures are the truer reflection of actual performance. In terms of this, headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased by 9,6% to 2 635,8 cents per share (F2024: 2 405,5 cents per share). In rand translated results, HEPS grew by 6,5% to 2 562,7 cents per share, reflecting the impact of the stronger rand. Basic earnings per share (EPS) increased by 1,8% to 2 435,3 cents per share, primarily due to the losses incurred on the exit of our German, Vietnamese, and Jordanian operations.
Our European businesses delivered a good performance with double-digit growth in revenues and trading profits in home currencies despite difficult macro conditions. Other than Portugal, which is in an investment phase, all businesses delivered a stronger result. The UK delivered an improved performance in its core foodservice operations, also benefiting from an acquisition to bolster its regional independent activities. Emerging Markets was buoyed by an excellent performance from our South African businesses. However, Greater China remains subdued by the macro environment and Singapore is emerging from its realignment. Both Australia and New Zealand delivered very satisfactory trading performances considering the weaker macro conditions in each country.
Activity levels in Q1 were impacted by unseasonally cold and wet September weather in the northern hemisphere, coupled with extreme weather-related flooding in Eastern Europe, however, there was an improvement into Q2 and the festive season. Q3 was flattish largely due to the timing of the Easter holidays but activity rebounded into Q4. Food inflation had no real impact until late in the year, however, cost inflation remains sticky, driven by ongoing wage pressures and higher supply chain costs. With tighter economic conditions in many geographies, customers remain price-sensitive, and competition has expectedly been robust.
Investment activity, primarily into new distribution capacity, has continued to cater for current and future growth. Twelve foodservice bolt-on opportunities were converted in the year, primarily adding to our geographic reach in existing geographies. Our global teams are to be congratulated for adapting to prevailing market conditions and again, successfully delivering our strategic foodservice focus.
Distribution
The board has declared a final cash dividend of 600,0 cents per share for the year ended June 30 2025 (F2024: 565,00 cents per share), an increase of 6,2% and approximately 2,2 times HEPS cover, in line with group policy.
Financial overview
Net revenue of R235,6 billion (F2024: R225,9 billion) rose by 4,3% (constant currency increase of 6,8%), reflecting both real organic and acquisitive growth, despite almost zero food inflation and a flattish contribution from Australasia.
Gross profit percentage at 24,5% (F2024: 24,1%) was pleasing, particularly as several businesses aggressively sacrificed some margin to maintain volumes and grow their market shares. The cost-of-doing-business (CODB) increased to 19,0% (F2024: 18,7%), driven primarily by higher cost inflation, particularly labour, which is persistently tracking higher than food inflation. The gains in gross margins have more than offset the increased CODB.
Businesses are continually refining their sales mix and product range to grow in the segment of the market that delivers sustainable returns. We continually look at innovative solutions for customers, however, we are efficient and operate a high-service model in growing markets.
Group trading profit increased by 6,4% to R12,9 billion (F2024: R12,2 billion) and 9,3% in constant currency. F2025 trading profit margins improved to 5,5%, slightly higher than F2024 at 5,4%.
Net finance charges (excluding IFRS 16 charges) increased by 8,6% to R630,7 million (F2024: R580,6 million). Interest costs compared to a year ago are higher due to working capital requirements, increased debt utilised to finance acquisitions, ongoing capital investments for growth, and higher dividend payments to shareholders.
Overall free cash flow is lower than F2024 but within expectations considering the investments made in the year of R8,8 billion. Bidcorp absorbed working capital of R0,8 billion reflecting higher overall activity levels but also our growing "supply solution" offerings through importing Own Brand products. Average working capital days was 11,4 days (F2024: 9,6 days) and working capital percentage to revenue at 3,5% (F2024: 3,2%).
Gross capital investments in property, plant, and equipment of R6,3 billion (F2024: R5,8 billion) remain elevated and include R3,8 billion of expansionary investments in new capacity, the largest portion of which has been invested in the UK.
Non-IFRS 16 net debt to EBITDA at 0,4x (0,2x on F2024) is higher but remains low notwithstanding working capital absorption, capital investments and acquisitions. Non-IFRS 16 EBITDA interest cover is at 23,1x (F2024: 23,2x), both well within group covenants.
Trading Margin (%)
Annual Operations Returns (%)
Headline Earnings Per Share (cents)
Dividend Per Share (cents)
Strategy
Bidcorp's focus is on the wholesaling of food and allied products servicing the eating-out-of-home market through developing our Own Brand and imports, moving into niche value-add manufacturing, focusing on selling to the correct mix of customers, serviced by well-located modern infrastructure, and enabled by world-class technology solutions. Growth is further supplemented by in-territory bolt-on acquisitions to expand geographic reach and product range, or via strategic acquisitions to enter new markets.
Each of our businesses are at differing stages of maturity and development along our foodservice continuum, those developing are focused on building scale, while the more mature operations are focused on enhancing their value-add proposition to their customer base. The unique interaction of these various components is what continues to propel each business forward. We believe in each business' autonomy and manage them independently, however, encourage cooperation and sharing of ideas and learnings, with the aim to maximise the benefit of our global scale, experience, expertise and combined intellectual property for the collective benefit of the group and its stakeholders. We are continually reviewing the portfolio of businesses to ensure focus on those which we believe can scale in their respective markets and deliver acceptable returns over time to stakeholders.
Prospects
Activity levels in the group through July and August are encouraging considering that the weather in the northern hemisphere, which plays an important part of driving consumer spending and activity levels, has been less than ideal. In Australia, activity is expected to slowly improve into F2026 while in New Zealand, recessionary conditions are abating, however, the return to growth is likely to be prolonged. UK activity remains lacklustre, however, our business remains firmly on its path to margin recovery through efficiency gains and new customer gains. Our Emerging Markets businesses are anticipating growth, despite volatile macro conditions in many markets.
Cost inflation, mainly derived from high wage levels, is anticipated to remain sticky and elevated, driven by continued regulatory increases. We are expecting an uptick in food inflation, some of which became evident in late F2025. Moderate levels of food inflation can potentially alleviate the margin constricting conditions experienced over the past months. Consumer spend is likely to remain at similar levels as the cost-of-living crisis continues with higher interest rates likely to prevail for longer. Notwithstanding the current volatility and uncertainty, we are confident that the medium to long-term growth fundamentals of the foodservice industry remain positive.
We continue to invest in strategic distribution facilities to provide for future capacity as well as value-added manufacturing opportunities, however, the rate of spend is expected to moderate. These investments are the correct long-term decisions for the group to ensure the future growth of the businesses despite being negative in the short term in terms of profitability and returns.
New technologies for renewable energy, refrigeration, energy efficiency, and logistics optimisation remain a strategic imperative to minimising our environmental footprint.
Four bolt-on acquisitions have already been concluded in the new financial year, with several more opportunities under consideration. The pipeline of opportunities remains full, however, we remain circumspect in converting the ones most likely to fit our strategic focus. We remain alert to opportunities in new geographies; however, these have been scarce to date, and our participation therein is opportunistic.
Investment continues into our ecommerce and customer relationship platforms, to enhance customer experiences, streamline operations and promote resilience and efficiencies as well as into modernising our digital backbone. The potential of AI solutions is gathering pace across all businesses in sales opportunities, margin optimisation, inventory management, as well as operating efficiencies.
We continue to deliver on our foodservice strategy, enabled by our excellent management teams and people, and through our fit-for-purpose business model. Consumer conditions are not expected to materially improve into F2026; however, we will continue to focus on those factors that we can control and not on what we cannot and adapt and maximise the opportunities which inevitably arise. Accordingly, we are budgeting to continue delivering real growth in the year ahead.
Divisional review
Australasia
In Australia and New Zealand trading conditions were challenging, with New Zealand enduring a recession for much of the year. Weak consumer sentiment and plummeting customer profitability translated into fierce competition. Australasia's results were flat but satisfactory as the division successfully contended with severe economic headwinds and heightened competition. In constant currency, revenue was up 2,3% to R47,8 billion (F2024: R46,8 billion) and trading profit was up by 0,3% to R4,0 billion (F2024: 4,0 billion).
Australia is celebrating 30 years of trading in F2025 — continuing to deliver excellent products and service. An environment of heightened competition and pricing pressure translated into some strategically lost margin, necessary to maintain market share. Despite these challenges, results were solid. Revenue rose 3% in a zero-food inflation environment, while trading profit margin was maintained.
Foodservice bore the brunt of the challenging conditions, while Bidfood Supply Solutions achieved double-digit top-line growth. Own Brand product penetration made pleasing strides. Simply Food Solutions (our niche manufacturing arm) fared well in the year and is poised for robust growth.
Additional capacity was created by extending our Emerald Queensland operation and moving our Canberra operations to a new purpose-built facility. All new facilities are solar equipped, with energy-efficient refrigeration and lighting, as well as rainwater harvesting.
Costs were well managed in spite of the higher core inflation. Staff turnover and wage inflation added pressure, however, we responded by investing in our people, with training and development efforts ensuring that we have the most skilled and customer-focused team.
Encouragingly, consumer sentiment improved towards the end of the year, moving from being sharply negative, to neutral, and now positive.
New Zealand experienced a prolonged recession, business failures were on the rise and tourism has yet to return to its pre-COVID-19 levels. While we were impacted along with the rest of the market, we fared well due to our inherent strengths: a comprehensive depot footprint close to our customers; an IT infrastructure that is increasingly improving the quality of customer engagement; a lean and efficient team; and the "right" products and services for the "right" customers.
Growth in revenue was hard to come by, but we achieved this by sometimes yielding margin. All of our divisions, including Foodservice, Fresh, and Simply Food Solutions, delivered a commendable performance. Prioritising growth in Own Brand and manufactured premium products, as well as imports, served us well. Overall we are very pleased with only a 5% reduction in profitability.
Tight control was maintained over costs, which largely mitigated the decline in gross margins. Core inflation remained elevated but there was some easing in wage inflation on the back of rising unemployment.
Despite these conditions, we continued to invest for growth, with the new Wellington distribution centre (DC) opening at the end of June 2025, the Waipapa DC due to open in October 2025, and with the upgrade of the Aspire Foods facility in Christchurch underway. Considerable focus has also been given to ensuring that new investment meets sustainability criteria. A feasibility study on solar energy for all DCs is underway, while our electric vehicle (EV) fleet was extended with three additional EV trucks operating from the new Wellington DC.
New Zealand is by no means out of the economic woods yet, recent tough times have been used to make the business more resilient and more focused, setting us up well to take advantage of the upturn in the economy — when it comes.
United Kingdom (UK)
This year, the British market was characterised by intense competition as consumer confidence remained poor and there was minimal economic growth. Inflation and interest rates remained high and the heightened pressure on the hospitality sector continued. In these adverse trading conditions, Bidfood UK succeeded in delivering good growth and improved margins, growing revenue 5,6% to R67,5 billion (F2024: R63,9 billion) and trading profit 20,6% to R2,5 billion (F2024: R2,1 billion).
Bidfood UK’s trading profits were up on the back of good revenue growth. Gross profits rose and costs were well contained as wage bills grew faster than inflation. The much-anticipated national insurance and living wage increases, in April, were largely recovered through routine pricing and margin reviews.
Gross margins showed a steady improvement as strategic improvement initiatives gained traction. The Turner Price acquisition, completed in July 2024, exceeded expectations and made a solid contribution to revenue and profits.
Bidfood, the wholesale business, notched up a record performance, achieving increased profitability on higher revenue. Bidfood managed to grow its freetrade customer base and secured a number of new national accounts.
Bidfresh, with its main exposure to the hospitality and leisure sector, was affected by the prevailing tough trading conditions, resulting in decreased revenue but an excellent trading margin. Bidfresh ended the year strongly, benefiting from the spring upturn.
Caterfood Buying Group grew profits, boosted by a strong performance from the newly acquired Turner Price. Volumes were mostly depressed, affected by the same lacklustre activity in the independent hospitality and leisure markets. Simply Food Solutions performance improved in a tough market as it focused on securing new business.
Digital and software projects were executed to support improved operating efficiencies. Getting closer to our customers using online tools was a major priority.
Expenses were well controlled, although employment costs continued to rise above inflation as wage increases reflected growing labour shortages. Our people are what set us apart, so it was pleasing that our annual staff survey returned an employee engagement score of 85% – up 5% on the previous survey.
The Bidfood UK 2024 sustainability report was published at the end of the calendar year, highlighting a remarkable 92% reduction in food waste sent to landfill and a significant increase in food being distributed to charities. Detailing an innovative carbon footprint tool to calculate the environmental impact of individual foods during menu planning, facilitating better data collection, and dialogue with our suppliers and our customers.
Europe
Europe continued to excel, all businesses performing to expectation and several beyond, achieving excellent growth in volumes and profits. In most markets, consumer demand for eating-out-of-home held up, wage inflation was elevated on the back of low unemployment, and competition intensified. Revenue rose by 7,3% to R88,0 billion (F2024: R82,0 billion). Trading profit results were similarly strong with an 8,9% increase to R4,8 billion (F2024: R4,5 billion).
Bidfood Netherlands delivered another record performance, building on the progress made in recent years. A number of national accounts were exited in the period, this was compensated by new business in the freetrade sector. To serve the growing freetrade market, a new facility was commissioned in The Hague in April. A project to redesign and upgrade our ecommerce platform has begun, working with BidOne.
We invested in 18 new electric trucks, something that is becoming essential in the Netherlands as stringent environmental regulations will soon require that diesel vehicles be banned from city centres. We made good strides towards meeting the impending reporting requirements of the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Bidfood Belgium enjoyed a successful year, with both revenue and trading profit improving by double digits, boosted by contributions from the newly acquired VDS, effective September 2024. Expenses were well contained in the face of higher wage inflation. Trading margins strengthened as the business focused on the freetrade sector.
Belgium has a considerable number of solar installations contributing meaningfully to its energy requirements. Leading in food waste incineration — we generated steam energy which lowered our carbon emissions for a better, more responsible solution than sending waste to landfill.
Bidfood Czech Republic and Slovakia delivered improved profits and revenue benefiting from solid demand and relatively high food inflation. Trading profit margins were maintained. Hungary is still in the development stage.
The Czech Republic results were buoyed by resilient consumer spending with activity in the bigger cities more robust but the rural areas often lagging. Competition for large, more price-sensitive, customers remained pronounced but a stronger emphasis on the street trade paid dividends.
Slovakia was impacted as additional regulations of fees and taxes imposed on companies dampened confidence, with the local horeca market showing little to no growth. Reflecting the growing maturity of our still nascent Hungarian operation, a new ERP was implemented. The development of online and customer mapping tools for our sales representatives has enjoyed considerable success in all markets.
In April, we opened our sixth depot, in Plana České Budějovice, in South Bohemia. We also doubled our capacity at the Prešov depot in eastern Slovakia. On the back of increased activity, we also expanded our fresh fish factory's capacity. We continued to invest in solar power and significantly reduced our food waste.
DAC Italy's bottom line improved slightly, but was negatively impacted because of additional costs associated with the opening of the Rome warehouse early in the year.
New capacity comes with significant short-term incremental cost and it takes a few years to realise operational efficiencies. Rome is, however, essential to our aspiration to grow our reach in central and southern Italy. In this pursuit, we also concluded a small acquisition in Bari, in the south.
Restaurants and hotels across the country benefited from firmer consumer sentiment, derived from higher wages and stable employment. We achieved double-digit sales growth and grew our market share, particularly in the horeca space. Italy, with its large population and big tourism sector, remains an attractive foodservice market.
Bidfood Poland achieved an outstanding result, where revenue rose and trading profits followed suit. Increased trading margin reflects the growing maturity of this business; expenses were contained and improvement in return on funds employed were encouraging. Working capital management was excellent. With a focus on its traditionally strong freetrade segment, Bidfood Poland returned robust growth in both this part of the market and in national accounts.
We completed an investment in a replacement 8 500m2 warehouse and office complex in Szczecin, to better service Poland's northwest region; further depot expansions are planned. Investing for the future, we continue to spend on IT — today two-thirds of all Bidfood Poland's customers are using our ecommerce offerings.
Our Baltics operations in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia achieved pleasing results, both in revenue growth and trading profits. Lithuania and Estonia both experienced improved economic outcomes while the Latvian economy was stagnant. Inflationary pressures across all regions came from wages and logistics.
In the larger Lithuanian market, freetrade growth continued, although at lower profit margins on the back of greater competition and rising costs. Estonia achieved good sales growth and began building a new replacement depot. With an eye on range extension, Cesars, a Latvian distributor specialising in importing Asian foodstuffs, was acquired which performed to expectations.
Bidfood Spain maintained its growth momentum, lifting revenue and profits. Organic growth remained strong. Expansion continued apace with the acquisition of Colofruit, a mostly gourmet distributor focused on Barcelona. Capital investment was mainly dedicated to land and buildings, including a replacement San Sebastian warehouse and a replacement depot in Barcelona.
All businesses contributed to our strong overall performance. Guzman grew in all channels, focusing on cross-selling and cost-saving opportunities. Euskopan concentrated on revenue optimisation. Igartza maintained good growth and began expanding to the south of the Basque country.
Portugal underwent significant change this year, including reorienting the customer base towards freetrade. The purchase of Gelgarve in February 2025, an aligned business in the Algarve, was a particular highlight, growing revenues by more than a third. Freetrade growth exceeded expectations although pricing pressures remained elevated. Trading profits were weighed down by higher operating expenses due to increased staff capacity. Capital investments were focused on depot expansion in Lisbon which included solar panels and further is planned in Porto. We introduced 100% recyclable, reusable plastic distribution boxes to improve our efficiencies and minimise our carbon footprint.
Emerging Markets
Pockets of excellence drove a mixed but overall solid performance. Management constantly pivoted to address and exploit market risks and opportunities. These included political turmoil, rampant inflation, varying economic growth rates, fierce competition, and patchy consumer confidence. South Africa excelled and the Middle East continued to grow, as Türkiye began to reap the benefits of recent investment. Our Asian operations operated profitably while carrying out necessary restructuring exercises. Malaysia was a standout success. Our South American operations mostly performed to expectations. Divisional revenue rose 3,7% to R34,5 billion (F2024: R33,2 billion) and trading profits improved by 8,2% to R2,0 billion (F2024: R1,8 billion).
Bidcorp Food Africa (BCFA) produced an outstanding result. This in the context of declining GDP per capita, high interest rates and unemployment, and public-sector underperformance.
Bidfood South Africa (BSA) enjoyed robust growth, increasing its share of customers' baskets in the street trade and airline catering segments, while pursuing growth in market share and volumes in the centre-ofplate protein. Efficiencies were at world-class levels as were returns on funds employed.
Crown Food Group (CFG) grew well above inflation and competed strongly in most customer and product categories. CFG continues to build on its range of consumer-focused retail. Both BSA and CFG made substantial investments this year in solar power generation. Investments were made in IT enhancements and marketing, including social media platforms.
With a view to ongoing succession planning, a "future leaders" programme was launched at BSA, targeting talented staff under the age of 45. Training spend accordingly increased by almost 20%.
Chipkins Puratos, which is 50% equity accounted, grew trading profit and achieved particularly good results on its own-manufactured business with several large account wins.
Bidfood Middle East (BME) was a solid contributor, boosting revenue and profits while investing for growth. While geopolitics undermined investor confidence and tourism, overall economic growth remained relatively strong, driven by reforms and the opening of the economies to foreign investment. BME is focused on growing its range into the centre-of-the-plate categories and increasing its foodservice customer universe. BME invested in a seafood value-add processing facility in Saudi. With an eye to the future, investments were made in smart, AI-powered tools to optimise operations and reduce food waste and energy consumption.
Türkiye translated economic turmoil, a weaker lira, and a very difficult operating environment, all in a very high-inflation context, into growing revenue by more than 50%. Management concentrated on the core foodservice offering, enhancing efficiencies of all business units, and driving profitability and efficient cash management. The Kale Gıda acquisition was successfully bedded down, extending our reach into the Çanakkale and Balıkesir regions.
Greater China (including Hong Kong) managed costs closely, minimising the decline in profitability, in the face of lacklustre consumer spending and lower tourism flows in both mainland China and Hong Kong. Numerous changes have been made to improve the profitability of the businesses. The team is focused on growing the product range and increasing the number of foodservice customers they serve. Several electric vehicles were acquired.
Following the previous restructure of the business, Singapore rebranded as Bidfood (previously Angliss). Management refocused the sales team and improved business processes resulting in increasingly positive results by yearend. Bidfood Innovations relocated to a larger, more modern site in October 2024. We continued to invest in IT systems including in ecommerce with myBidfood going live in January 2025. In a lacklustre market, optimising supply chains and inventory levels were prioritised, as was cost containment.
Malaysia exceeded projections, continuing to consolidate its market-leading position and grow its market reach. Internal restructures undertaken in the previous year, progressed to plan, unlocking synergies, saving costs and allowing the business to reach a larger customer base. Benefits from investments to expand capacity and replace ageing facilities are expected to be felt towards the end of the next financial year and into F2027. Post-yearend, an acquisition of an ambient goods business was completed which will substantially increase our market presence.
Chile's economic recovery in F2025 continued, but QSRs and hotels struggled. Our broad spread of customer segments enabled us to grow profitability. Focus on operational efficiency continues as well as driving product margins through better selling and improved buying. The import programme was increasingly successful. Customer numbers grew, as did the percentage of customers using the myBidfood platform. Implementation of BidIQ for the sales force was successfully rolled out.
Brazil continued to strengthen its position in the state of São Paulo by widening the distribution area well beyond São Paulo city. In a challenging economic environment with elevated interest rates and inflation, consumer spend fell. In the face of headwinds, we reorganised our sales force and grew sales by double digits. Improvements in operations, sales channels, and the digitisation journey continued. myBidfood broke previous sales records and BidIQ was launched.
Blancaluna in Argentina was heavily impacted by the tough but necessary government economic reforms, with the fall in consumer spending directly affecting our business. Despite this, the business managed double-digit volume growth but at lower margins. The strengthening of the purchasing and sales team resulted in better terms and efficiencies. Focus on a strong import drive and extension of the distribution coverage into the interior, will see good momentum going into F2026.
Corporate
The BidOne digital commerce system has been adopted by most of the businesses in the group. The team has strengthened the available digital capabilities, enabling more users to engage with the platforms and supporting higher activity levels. Supplier tools were also enhanced, improving access to information and streamlining workflows. Security remains a top priority, as are plans to leverage AI to benefit our operations.
Bidfood Procurement Community (BPC) procures a broad range of high-quality, ethically produced food and non-food items for group companies. Its procurement strategy is closely aligned with the group's priorities, with a focus on core categories that matter most to internal customers. BPC continues to expand both its product offering and supply chain footprint, while ensuring that all suppliers adhere to rigorous standards of quality, safety, management, and ethics.
BL Berson
Chief executive officer
DE Cleasby
Chief financial officer
Dividend declaration
In line with the group dividend policy, the directors declared a final cash dividend of 600,0 cents (480,0 cents net of dividend withholding tax, where applicable) per ordinary share for the year ended June 30 2025 to those members registered on the record date, being Friday, September 26 2025.
The dividend will be paid out of income reserves. A dividend withholding tax of 20% is applicable to all shareholders who were not exempt.
Share certificates may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between Tuesday, September 23 2025 to Friday, September 26 2025, both days inclusive.
For and on behalf of the board
Johannesburg
August 27 2025