HOMECHOICE INTERNATIONAL PLC - Audited summarised Group financial results for the year ended 31 December 2020

Audited summarised Group financial results for the year ended 31 December 2020

HOMECHOICE INTERNATIONAL PLC
(Incorporated in the Republic of Mauritius)
Registration number: C171926
JSE share code: HIL
ISIN: MT0000850108
("HIL" or "the group")


AUDITED SUMMARISED GROUP FINANCIAL RESULTS 
for the year ended 31 December 2020


- Digital acceleration despite Covid-19 impact to trading performance 
- Cash on hand up >100% to R415 million (2019: R80 million)
- >50% of transactions on digital platforms
- Revenue down 6.0% to R3.3 billion
- Retail sales down 8.1% to R1.8 billion
- Loan disbursements down 15.3% to R1.9 billion
- Cash conversion rate increased to 177.0% (2019: 58.2%)
- Operating profit decreased by 60.2% on impact of Covid-19 and lower gross profit margin
- Earnings per share down 63.2% to 160.4 cents
- Headline earnings per share down 62.3% to 164.2 cents
- No dividend declared
- Total dividend nil (2019: 87.0) cents per share


Executive chair, Shirley Maltz, commented: "The financial results were heavily impacted by Covid-19. 
We took decisive action to conserve cash, protect the debtor books, focus on collections, look after 
our staff and accelerate digital. Our 6.0% decrease in revenue was further impacted by the 300 bps 
drop in the repo rate. Operating profit declined by 60.2%. This reflected lower gross profit margin, 
higher debtor costs from Covid-19 and insufficient decrease in expenses. Pleasingly, we achieved an 
outstanding cash conversion of 177.0% with resilient collections and a dedicated focus on cash 
management. Strong relationships with our banking partners enabled us to refinance and upsize our 
banking facilities to R1.0 billion. 

Our digital transformation further accelerated in 2020, with 52.5% of the group's transactions now 
taking place on digital platforms. Digital retail sales increased by 69.7% and now account for 
25.0% of sales. Our brands and products continue to resonate with customers. 270 000 new customers 
were acquired in the year, increasing our total active customer base to 905 000. Our Financial 
Services digital offerings continue to perform well.

The board has not declared a dividend and will reinvest in the group to take advantage of attractive 
growth opportunities in the year ahead." 


SHORT-FORM NOTICE
This short-form announcement is the responsibility of the directors of HIL. It is a summary of the 
information contained in the full announcement and does not contain full or complete details.

Any investment decisions by investors and/or shareholders should be based on a consideration of 
the full announcement. The full announcement has been released on SENS and a more comprehensive 
analysis of HomeChoice International's results and outlook can be accessed on the following 
JSE link: https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2021/JSE/ISSE/HILE/FY2020.pdf and published on 
www.homechoiceinternational.com/financial-results/

The annual financial statements, incorporating the external auditor's report, which sets out a 
key audit matter and their basis for their unqualified opinion, are available at 
www.homechoiceinternational.com/financial-results/

Copies of the full announcement may be requested from the company secretary at 
governance@homechoiceinternational.com


CORPORATE INFORMATION
Registered office: c/o Sanlam Trustees International Limited
Labourdonnais Village, Mapou, Riviere du Rempart, Mauritius 
Non-executive directors: A Chorn, E Gutierrez-Garcia*, R Hain, M Harris, P Joubert, 
A Ogunsanya* (alternate)  * Non-independent
Executive directors: S Maltz (Executive Chair) G Lartigue (Chief Executive Officer), P Burnett
Company secretary: Sanlam Trustees International Limited
Sponsor: Rand Merchant Bank (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)


Mauritius, 24 March 2021

Date: 24-03-2021 09:30:00
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