South Africa's Massmart to sell Game stores in Ghana

Massmart, the owners of general merchandise Game stores in Ghana have announced that it is selling all its outlets in West and East Africa to stop losses in that struggling business.

Reuters reports that the decision comes after the second-largest distributor of consumer goods in Africa reported a narrower half-year loss.

The decision will lead to the sale of 14 Game stores in West and East Africa, four of which are located in Ghana.

"The performance and the complexity in running those businesses is something that frankly we needed to address. We've commenced a formal sales process, we're currently in discussions with potential purchasers to take on those stores," Slape told investors.

Slape said the move will result in an annual profit before interest and tax improvement of 750 million rand ($50.24 million)

Game sales from the rest of the Africa stores fell by 18.6% in rand terms in the 26 weeks ended June, and by 5% in constant currencies, due to continued currency weaknesses, Massmart with presence in 12 African countries said.

Game reported a narrower trading loss of 347.3 million rand in the period.

Through additional lower overheads, reduced Africa exposure and possible further store closures or disposals, Game will be in a break even position, Slape said.

"But that is not enough. Achieving break even performance isn't going to be sufficient for us to be satisfied, we've got to really get Game back to a healthy level of profitability and performance," he said.

Group chief financial officer Mohammed Abdool-Samad said he hopes Game will break even in the next 12 months.