BL Premium reports that building materials retailer Cashbuild cut 500 jobs or about 8% of its workforce in 2023, as it placed a moratorium on replacing staff who left.

CEO Werner de Jager said the number of employees had “unfortunately” been reduced to 5,700, but the group avoided retrenchments or forced cuts. Cashbuild, the owner of 321 stores, reported on Wednesday that its profit fell 20% in the six months to end-December, despite a low base in the same period a year earlier. “Our results are testimony of the financial strain of the consumer, exacerbated by continued load-shedding and above-inflationary cost increases,” De Jager said. Cashbuild, which caters to low- to middle-income consumers predominantly in townships and rural areas, has been struggling to keep pace in recent years with the level of growth seen between 2010 and 2018. The P&L business, which has 53 stores, was bought by Cashbuild in 2015 and has since underperformed. The group would close a few more P&L stores and was converting some to Cashbuild brands, De Jager indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andries Mahlangu & Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page