CAPE TOWN Groceries and furniture retail group Shoprite Holdings grew turnover by 10,3% in the six months to end-December compared with the corresponding period last year, it said yesterday.

All divisions reported good growth despite an average fall of 0,3%- 1,3% in selling prices for food across its various brands.

Shoprite Holdings includes Checkers, Shoprite, U-Save, OK Furniture and OK Franchise.

The group's interim results, to be released around March 1, will cover 27 weeks to January 2, against 26 weeks in the comparative period last year. With this year's extra week included, total group turnover rose 14,1% to about R15,2bn compared with last year.

Shoprite's shares added 20c to an intraday high of R12,90 after the announcement but later dropped back to last week's level of R12,70. A 12-month peak of R13,45 was reached at the end of November.

Checkers, repositioned to appeal to more convenience-orientated customers than Shoprite, grew turnover 7,4% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the extra week and new store space. It opened three stores in the past six months.

Shoprite grew like-for-like turnover by 8,7% although it was harder hit by internal food deflation than Checkers. It has opened an additional eight stores.

The no-frills discounter U-Save, which is being expanded to meet demand, added another 17 stores to bring the total to 74.

Like-for-like turnover at Shoprite's furniture division grew 15,9%.

Outside SA, Shoprite's stores performed in line with expectations, management said. Sales in rand terms rose 12,4%, but in constant currency terms were 20,1% higher.

Last month the group opened a hyper store in Mumbai, India. Management said it was excited about potential in that country.