The Foschini Group in South Africa has reported that its Australian arm – consisting of Retail Apparel Group, the company behind Connor, YD and Tarocash – is seeing better sales in recent months.
In a trading update this week, TFG noted that despite discretionary spending remaining subdued in the market, its sales have trended consistently better throughout the first six months of its financial year – from April 1 to September 30.
Second quarter growth was up 1.6 per cent in AUD terms, offsetting a 2.8 per cent contraction in the first quarter. Sales for the half fell by 0.5 per cent.
“As a result of expenses growing ahead of sales, driven by costs from new stores and continued inflationary pressure on expenses, segmental EBIT declined by 18.4 per cent,” TFG reported.
The improved sales in Australia has helped drive up full sales for the first half across TFG, which also includes South Africa and London markets.
Total group sales lifted 12.7 per cent, hitting 29.2 billion rand – equivalent to around $2.58 billion in Australian dollars.
TFG’s 2025 annual report, for the financial year ending March 31, indicates that its Africa market made up 72 per cent of total revenue, with London and Australia making up around 14 per cent each respectively. This indicates that its Australian market contributed over $300 million.
Group online sales grew by 55.3 per cent in H1 FY26, now contributing 14.7 per cent to total retail sales. TFG Africa online sales grew by 40.2 per cent, driven by TFG’s local fashion platform called Bash.
Africa sales grew 5.3 per cent while total sales in London boomed by 69 per cent. The London growth includes the addition of British fashion brand White Stuff, which TFG acquired in October 2024.