Massmart - Prospects

Massmart - Prospects                                                            
Massmart Holdings Limited                                                       
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                                  
(Registration number: 1940/014066/06)                                           
Share Code: MSM                                                                 
ISIN Code: ZAE000029534                                                         
("Massmart" or "the Company")                                                   
Prospects                                                                       
The following prospects were included in the Annual Report posted to the        
shareholders of Massmart today:                                                 
It can be expected that a tightening of the monetary policy in response to      
gradually increasing inflation will slow the extraordinary rate of retail sales 
growth that South Africa has enjoyed in recent years. There is as yet no        
evidence of slower growth in Massmart"s sales and indeed recent trends suggest a
promising Christmas season, which will include the sales of 12 new stores       
planned to open before then. Our current view is therefore that Massmart will   
enjoy a good first half with sales and profit growth ahead of that of the       
comparable period in 2005 and with earnings well ahead of sales growth for the  
year to June 2007.                                                              
Looking beyond this, shareholders should be mindful of two important facts.     
The first is that as a cash retailer, Massmart"s value proposition has          
traditionally become relatively more attractive to consumers in periods of      
higher interest rates. The second is that company initiated growth and profit   
initiatives have historically had a greater impact on Massmart"s sales and      
profit performance than economic cycles.                                        
For the 15 weeks to 8 October 2006, total sales grew 16.2% and comparable store 
sales grew 12.9% with profit growth significantly ahead of sales growth and last
year. Inflation for the same period was 3.8%.                                   
Johannesburg                                                                    
31 October 2006                                                                 
Sponsor:                                                                        
Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited                                  
Date: 31/10/2006 08:10:25 AM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
Produced by the JSE SENS Department