Pick n Pay has published its financial results for the six months ending 26 August 2018. Despite a tough economy, the company said that it had its strongest six-month trading performance – measured by volume – in more than five years. Headline earnings per share grew 80.5% to 100.18 cents per share, with diluted HEPS up 80.4% to 98.38 cents per share. On a normalised basis, headline earnings per share and normalised diluted headline earnings per share were up 17.0% year-on-year. Total turnover reached R41.2 billion (up 6.4%) from R38.8 billion during the same period last year, while trading profit was at R631.8 million – up 58.3% from R399.1 million the previous year. Gross profit margin was maintained at 18.6%, with internal inflation held at 0.3% against CPI food of 3.5%. Profit before tax was R670.2 million, with profit after tax at R489 million (up from R263.2 million). The group declared an interim dividend of 39.10 cents per share. Performance overview The comp...