OK Zimbabwe announced a 19% revenue growth for the first quarter of the current financial year – an 11% increase when compared to the previous term.

OK Zimbabwe Supermarkets has announced a 19% revenue growth, reporting on the first quarter of the 2018 financial year. At a meeting with shareholders held in Harare yesterday, the company’s CEO, Mr. Alex Siyavora, said that the growth the company had reported last quarter had sustained and increased in the present one, with “performance ahead of budget”. OK Zimbabwe had announced, in March,  an 8% increase in revenue which later proved to support a robust year-on-year growth.

The main obstacle to trading this quarter, Siyavora said, were the current difficulties with international payments in Zimbabwe, which have created limitations on imports. However, the current import flows were enough to guarantee the normal functioning of business. Additionally, the recent ban on kaylite packaging, which had retailers in the country in panic, created trading disruptions especially with existing stocks that could not be sold. OK Zimbabwe managed to use the transitional period given by the government to clear products packaged with kaylite and, for now, stopped selling those altogether, until sustainable alternatives to the material are presented. The company said these restrictions would take a toll in next quarter’s results and that it is still estimating the costs of other solutions.

OK Zimbabwe is the largest supermarket chain in Zimbabwe and, according to Trendtype’s Retail Database Tracker currently has 63 outlets in the country between five different brands. Almost half of these are OK stores which cater to the broader range of customers. The remaining brands of the firm are the up-market Bon Marché, the OK Value outlets, the department stores OK Mart and the technology-focused brand Itech.