Measuring value creation
Creating and sustaining value for our stakeholders over the short, medium and long term is not limited to financial value.
By creating value for our customers and employees, as well as our wider stakeholder base including suppliers, regulators, lenders, landlords, government and the broader society in which we trade, we ultimately generate value for our shareholders, as outlined in the accompanying value-creation model.
The outcomes of the value created for our stakeholders are summarised by capital in the Value-creating business model.
For further detail on the Group’s stakeholders and the engagement issues addressed with these stakeholders over the past year, refer to Building quality stakeholder relationships.
How we create value:
- Generating competitive returns
- Maintaining a strong balance sheet
- Investing in stores, distribution facilities, technology and infrastructure for future growth
- Retaining income for continued growth and expansion of the business, organically and acquisitively
- Ensuring best-practice governance and risk management principles are applied across the business
Employees
Our employees are the individuals and teams who strive to create value, and thereby derive value themselves, by meeting the fashion, quality and service needs of our customers, and providing the Group’s business support services.
How we create value:
- Providing employment and creating job opportunities as the business expands
- Creating an environment where employees are motivated and encouraged to contribute innovatively
- Paying employees market-related salaries and benefits, and rewarding employees for excellence through incentive schemes
- Encouraging learning and sharing of knowledge and developing staff to exceed customer expectations
- Transforming the employee base to reflect diversity and equality
How we measure the value created:
- Job creation, through the number of full-time equivalent employees
- Commitment to training and development, through skills development spend per employee
- Diversity, employment equity and gender equality, through the percentage of employees from designated groups
Customers
Our retail customers are the consumers of our products and services. These customers are our primary source of revenue, enabling us to ultimately create financial value for shareholders.
How we create value:
- Offering fashion clothing and footwear which enable customers to look attractive, feel successful and confident
- Selling wide ranges of curated and tasteful fashion and homeware of superb quality and intrinsic value
- Showcasing unique aspirational fashion brands through an extensive footprint of exciting and visually appealing stores supported by the convenience of online shopping
- Enabling customers to buy merchandise by offering account and lay-by facilities in Truworths
- Knowledgeable employees serving customers with passion
How we measure the value created:
- Net promoter score (NPS) measures customers’ likelihood of recommending Truworths and Office respectively
- Growth in active accounts is an indication of the demand for Truworths merchandise
- Social media following measures fashionability and desirability of merchandise
Shareholders
Our shareholders are the principal providers of financial capital and by delivering sustainable, long-term value, the Group ensures continued access to capital.
How we create value:
- Growing revenue and expanding market share
- Executing our prudent merchandising strategies, thereby managing inventory levels to ensure that gross profit margin and inventory turn are within guided target ranges
- Maintaining tight control of operating expenses to ensure that operating profit margin is within guided target range
- Generating healthy returns and maintaining an efficient capital structure to ensure that return on equity, return on assets and asset turnover are within guided target ranges
- Efficient management of the account portfolio
- Prudently managing cash and working capital portfolio
- Returning funds to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases
- Ensuring prudent gearing levels
How we measure the value created:
- Return on invested capital greater than the weighted average cost of capital
- Medium-term growth in headline earnings per share greater than inflation
- Dividend yield
- Long-term share price appreciation
Group stakeholders
Our broader stakeholder base includes those groups that have a material direct or indirect impact on our business and influence our ability to create value.
How we create value:
- Contributing to national and local governments, and regulatory institutions
- Supporting local and offshore manufacturers of products, lenders, service providers and property landlords
- Assisting in growing and developing society through corporate citizenship, transformation and black economic empowerment
How we measure the value created:
- Government: contribution of corporate taxes
- Suppliers: purchases of merchandise and other services
- Lenders: meeting interest and capital repayment obligations timeously
- Property owners: rentals paid for store leases and distribution facilities
- Communities and broader society: social value created through corporate social investment, supplier and enterprise development, and environmental programmes