Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
CLOTHING retailer Edgars Stores (Edgars) saw its bottom line for the first quarter to March 31, 2024 improve by almost half a million American dollars from prior year levels which it attributed to improved efficiencies.
This was despite a challenging operating environment characterized by weaker volumes.
According to the group, customers generally held back spending on clothing items during the period under review as disposable incomes took a massive blow from rapid price increases.
To compound matters, the delayed monetary policy announcements created uncertainty for both the business and the clients notwithstanding the impact of drought on consumer spending which tilted towards food security.
Even worse, was the taxing of the Civil servants’ Covid-19 allowance starting in January this year which resulted in authorities recovering close to US$32 from every civil servant.
Volumes, a key indicator of demand, declined 18 percent to 455 against 552 in the comparable period last year.
“Our level of execution in terms of our quality and what we are giving our customers is going up; our margin went up. So effectively, bottom line, we are far better than last year,” Edgar’s chief executive, Sevious Mushosho, told The Financial Gazette on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting.
“Effectively, bottom line, we grew by almost close to US$500 000. I will not share how much, but what I am saying just shows you that it’s just a slight move in volumes to make serious money. If your margin is up when your volumes are down, that is a serious thing. That is a serious matter.”
The topline went down by 12 percent, but the margin went up by one percent.
“Buying better and getting control of the supply chain through Carousel made our margins better. Then what negatively affected us was that, because of low disposable income, we could not push more volumes.
“Otherwise, if the market was the same as in September, October, and November last year, we could have pushed massive volumes and could have made a lot of money,” Mushosho said.
The cost of sales went down by 23 percent compared to a decline in sales of 12 percent.
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