Pick n Pay has announced that its board and CEO Pieter Boone agreed he would step down with immediate effect. His last day was 30 September 2023.
Boone has been replaced by Sean Summers, who ran the company as MD and CEO for 11 years.
In addition to the leadership change, Pick n Pay gave a harrowing half-year trading update.
The company said it expects to report a loss of between 98.18 and 79.31 cents per share — a 184% to 204% decline from the 94.34 earnings per share it had last year.
Similarly, the company expects to report headline loss per share from 149.36 to 129.82 cents — a 233–253% drop.
Pick n Pay said it plans to release its financial results for the 26 weeks ended 27 August 2023 on Wednesday, 18 October 2023.
“I want to thank Pieter for his dedication to Pick n Pay over the past two-and-a-half years,” said Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman.
“He became our CEO while the Covid pandemic was still raging, and has led the business through some extraordinary challenges, including the transition out of the Covid lockdown, the unprecedented civil unrest in 2021, and the current load-shedding crisis.”
Ackerman said that despite the challenges, Boone devised and led the launch of Pick n Pay’s Ekuseni strategic plan, overseeing the acceleration of its Boxer, Clothing, and Omnichannel growth engines, and launching its new QualiSave brand.
“Unfortunately, in a very difficult environment, the performance of our core Pick n Pay business has been very challenging over the past months, and has not met expectations,” Ackerman stated.
“Pieter accepts that the board has decided on a change in leadership. He leaves us with our heartfelt thanks and best wishes for the future.”
Sean Summers worked for Pick n Pay between 1974 and 2007, becoming Managing Director in 1996 and CEO in 1999. Summers left the Group in 2007.
Pick n Pay said that Summers will relocate physically to South Africa over the coming weeks and will spend time analysing the business and meeting staff and customers.
“We are delighted that Sean is coming back to Pick n Pay. His knowledge and experience are unrivalled,” Ackerman said.
“He is passionate about getting Pick n Pay back onto the right trajectory, and winning the trust and confidence of customers new and old. He is absolutely the right person for the job at this time.”