MSM - Massmart - Results Of Annual General Meeting And CEO`s Statement

MSM - Massmart - Results Of Annual General Meeting And CEO`s Statement          
Massmart Holdings Limited                                                       
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                                  
(Registration Number 1940/014066/06)                                            
Share Code: MSM                                                                 
ISIN: ZAE000029534                                                              
("Massmart")                                                                    
RESULTS OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING and CEO`s STATEMENT                           
Shareholders are advised that at the Massmart Annual General Meeting held on    
Wednesday 21 November 2007, the requisite majority of shareholders passed       
all the ordinary resolutions, except for ordinary resolution 10.  The           
special resolution, as set out in the notice of meeting dated 10 October        
2007 was passed by the requisite majority. The special resolution will be       
lodged with the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office for     
registration.                                                                   
CEO`s STATEMENT                                                                 
Consistent with the trends evident in the national retail data, we are          
experiencing a tightening in the retail environment as a result of higher       
interest rates and the effect on consumers of the implementation of the         
National Credit Act.  However, as experienced in previous tightening            
interest rate cycles our cash-based model, combined with the participation      
of wholesale food, is proving to be relatively resilient.                       
For the first 21 weeks of the 2008 financial year, Massmart`s total sales       
growth was 12.7% and comparable sales growth was 10.6%, with overall Group      
inflation of 5.9% for the same period.                                          
High Food and Liquor inflation (9.1%), with volumes unaffected by interest      
rates, resulted in comparable Food and Liquor sales growth of 13.7%.  Low       
General Merchandise inflation (1.2%), coupled with slowing volume growth,       
reduced comparable General Merchandise sales growth to 7.6%.  For the first     
time in several years the General Merchandise categories, which include Home    
Improvement, are simultaneously experiencing both low product-inflation and     
high interest rates, with obvious negative effects on sales growth. A           
further increase in interest rates, seemingly in response to rising Food        
inflation, will exacerbate this trend.                                          
Despite the overall pressure on General Merchandise sales, we experienced       
strong sales growths in Multimedia and Hi-Tech of 26.5% and in DIY of 17.3%.    
The cool, wet start to summer ensured a good clearance of Winter Seasonal       
products, but delayed the traditional spending patterns in Summer Seasonal      
sales - although this picked up recently.  The relatively high rainfall in      
most of the country in the first quarter also reduced the sales growth in       
Building Materials and related categories.                                      
The last few weeks saw successful store openings at Makro, in Silver Lakes      
Pretoria, Builder Warehouse, in Nelspruit, and Dion Wired in Gateway Durban,    
which contributed, albeit marginally, to total Group sales growth.  With the    
continued difficulties securing land in the broader Durban market, total        
unweighted forecast space growth for the 2008 financial year is 4%, with 8%     
forecast for each of the 2009 and 2010 financial years.                         
As at September 2007, the foreign share ownership in Massmart had reduced to    
61% with the balance held by South African shareholders.                        
Since 23 August 2007, a Massmart subsidiary has purchased 3 070 238 Massmart    
shares from the open market for a total consideration of R257m and at an        
average price of R83.67 per share.                                              
We continue to believe that the medium- to long-term South African consumer     
story remains sound and whilst we have already shifted management priorities    
in response to the tightening short-term cycle, we continue to invest for       
long-term growth.                                                               
Johannesburg                                                                    
21 November 2007                                                                
Sponsor: Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited                         
Date: 21/11/2007 09:45:03 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
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