A lot of Cashbuild's customers build the slow way. They buy materials as the money becomes available, and fix what is broken before they take on anything bigger.
That is why the building-materials retailer, in its latest annual report, says it is "cautiously optimistic" about 2027 while expecting trading to stay "challenging for many of our customers". Its demand, it says, is "closely linked to household affordability, day-to-day repair and maintenance needs, and small community-based building activity". The customers it has in mind are households, informal contractors and the people it calls bakkie-builders.
The new stores did all the growing
The three months to the end of September show the pressure. Chief executive Werner de Jager had already told EWN's The Money Show in September that sales were flat in the first seven weeks after the financial year ended. Group revenue rose just 1%, and the new stores were the only reason. The 14 opened since July 2025 added about 5%, while the stores that were already trading sold 4% less.
Fewer purchases went through the tills, too: transactions fell 3% across the group and 4% at the older stores. Compare like with like, leaving out new and closed stores and a few businesses Cashbuild reports separately, and revenue was down 1%.
Paint, prices and a careful 2027
The full year to June looked steadier on the surface. Revenue grew 5.5%, to R12.1 billion, but headline earnings per share, the cleaned-up profit figure South African listed companies report, fell 7.7%.
Cashbuild's answer is to sell people what they can still afford. It is leaning on paint and decorative products for customers who want to refresh a home without renovating it, and says a wider paint range has already helped. Cement is still at the centre of the shop, though the group says short-term demand for it stays sensitive to affordability and project timing, even if infrastructure spending could help over the longer run. Beyond that, the plan is competitive pricing, tighter stock control, its supplier relationships and running the business more efficiently.
The economy is not doing it many favours. Stats SA's latest figures put unemployment at 33.6% in the second quarter, up from 32.7% in the first. Cashbuild is still opening stores into that: two more in the latest quarter, against one closed, for 318 in all.
