THE FOSCHINI GROUP LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1937/009504/06)
Share code: TFG
ISIN: ZAE000148466
(“TFG”, “the Company” or “the Group”)

Voluntary trading update in respect of the continued impact of load shedding in South Africa

Shareholders are advised that this voluntary trading update is being made ahead of an investor
conference being attended by TFG management later this week.

The ongoing energy crisis and elevated levels of load shedding are having a profound impact on
South Africa’s economy and society at large, making it difficult for businesses to trade, operate and
plan at normal levels. This is adding abnormal costs to the business, including the inability to pass on
the impact of inflation and the costs of dealing with load shedding to the consumer in full. Further, due
to load shedding, retail footfall has declined in some regions and this, together with a change in
consumer spending patterns, has impacted all South African retail.

As previously announced on SENS, TFG has had to contend with the increasing levels of load
shedding in South Africa throughout the current financial year ending 31 March 2023 (“FY2023”). The
extent and duration of load shedding increased progressively during the second half of December
2022, as previously reported, and more recently throughout January and February 2023 (“2-month
period”), with South Africa experiencing prolonged periods of stages 4, 5 and 6 load shedding.

TFG Africa has been negatively impacted by these unprecedented levels of load shedding. For the 2-
month period (excluding the non-comparative Tapestry Home Brands (“Tapestry”) retail turnover
growth has decreased from 12,6% (excluding Tapestry)* for the nine months ended 31 December
2022, to low-single digit growth for these 2 months. This has in turn reduced retail turnover growth for
the 48 weeks ended 25 February 2023 to 11,4% (excluding Tapestry)*. The impact of these
consistent high levels of load shedding would have been significantly worse were it not for the back-
up power solutions which were installed over the past few months and now provide partial mitigation
to c.70% (by turnover) of our South African stores.

TFG Africa lost c.120,000 trading hours during the 2-month period due to continued load shedding
across all provinces in South Africa, which represents 9,4 times the lost trading hours over the same
period in the previous financial year. This now equates to c.345,000 lost trading hours for the 11
months ended 28 February 2023. The true impact, however, has been estimated at close to double
this figure (i.e. c.685,000 lost trading hours) as customer demand is dampened by the associated
disruption and inconvenience with reduced footfall observed before, during and immediately after load
shedding periods.

Whilst we remain focussed on minimising the operational and financial impacts of load shedding, we
estimate the financial impact of load shedding to have reduced TFG Africa’s retail turnover by
approximately R1 billion in FY2023 (and by more than R250 million in the 2-month period alone). The
resultant higher levels of inventory have also necessitated increased levels of stock provisioning
which will contribute to the deterioration of gross margin in TFG Africa compared to the previous
financial year. Additional unbudgeted direct costs of c.R65 million have also been incurred in respect
of diesel, security and maintenance. Capital expenditure of c.R220 million has been spent to date on
back-up power solutions and an additional c.R30 million will be spent in FY2023 to ensure that c.80%
(by turnover) of TFG Africa’s stores have back-up power over the next few months. Back-up power
solutions are most effective only up to and including stage 4 load shedding, but are less effective at
stages 5 and 6. Other consequences of load shedding have included disruptions to operations. At this
stage there has only been a minimal impact on TFG’s supply chain.

Load shedding in South Africa is expected to continue to have a significant impact on our business in
FY2023 and FY2024. We continue to monitor the impact carefully but, given this prevailing
uncertainty, it is difficult to predict with accuracy the extent of these impacts. Retail turnover growth in
the first two weeks of March 2023, however, is more encouraging at 15,9% (excluding Tapestry)*
against a backdrop of lower levels of load shedding relative to the 2-month period.
Tapestry, acquired with effect from 1 August 2022, has performed above expectation. The rapid
integration into TFG’s well-developed platform has given it access to retail credit, TFG’s Rewards
loyalty program, market leading customer base and ecommerce capabilities. TFG’s @home business
is also already benefitting from Tapestry’s local manufacturing capabilities.

We remain committed to investing for the long-term, both in respect of local quick response
manufacturing and ecommerce. Bash, TFG’s new fashion and lifestyle online shopping platform, was
successfully launched in February 2023 – on time and within budget – and early indications are very
encouraging across a range of online performance metrics. We continue to open new stores in South
Africa, in line with our strategy, however, we do so cautiously and responsibly given the current
environment. Further, we continue to see positive results from our investment in the value segment of
the South African market following our acquisition of Jet.

TFG London and TFG Australia both continue to trade above expectation, thereby mitigating, to a
certain extent, the load shedding related pressures in South Africa.

We will continue to keep shareholders updated in this regard.

* Pro forma management account numbers used to calculate an indicative retail turnover growth.

PRO FORMA INFORMATION

Pro forma management account information for Tapestry was used in this announcement for
illustrative purposes only to provide an indicative retail turnover growth for TFG Africa excluding the
acquired Tapestry business.

Tapestry retail turnover for the period since acquisition on 1 August 2022 to 11 March 2023 was
removed as if the acquisition did not take place.

This pro forma information, because of its nature, may not be a fair reflection of the Group's results of
operations, financial position, changes in equity or cash flows. There are no material events
subsequent to the reporting date which require adjustment to the pro forma information.

The pro forma management account retail turnover numbers used were:

                            Nine months ended 31      Nine months ended 31                       Growth
                                  December 2022             December 2021

                                                Rm                        Rm                          %

 TFG Africa retail
 turnover including
 Tapestry                                 28 282,8                   24 049,3                     17,6%

 Less: Tapestry retail
 turnover#                                 1 199,8

 TFG Africa retail
 turnover excluding
 Tapestry                                 27 083,0                   24 049,3                     12,6%



                             48 weeks ended 25          48 weeks ended 26               Growth
                               February 2023              February 2022

                                     Rm                         Rm                         %
 TFG Africa retail
 turnover including
 Tapestry                                32 507,4                 27 778,7                    17,0%

 Less: Tapestry retail
 turnover#                                1 571,6

 TFG Africa retail
 turnover excluding
 Tapestry                                30 935,8                 27 778,7                    11,4%



                               First two weeks of       First two weeks of                   Growth
                             March trading month      March trading month
                                            2023                     2022
                                             Rm                       Rm                           %

 TFG Africa retail
 turnover including
 Tapestry                                 1 361,5                   1 079,8                   26,1%

 Less: Tapestry retail
 turnover#                                  109,9

 TFG Africa retail
 turnover excluding
 Tapestry                                 1 251,6                   1 079,8                   15,9%



# The adjustment is based on management accounts. The Group is satisfied with the quality and
completeness of these management accounts which are unaudited.

The directors are responsible for compiling the pro forma financial information in accordance with the
JSE Limited Listings Requirements and in compliance with the SAICA Guide on Pro Forma Financial
Information. The underlying information used in the preparation of the pro forma financial information
has been prepared applying consistently the accounting policies in place for the year ended 31 March
2022.

Shareholders are advised that the financial information on which this announcement is based has not
been reviewed nor reported on by the Company's external auditors.

Cape Town
13 March 2023

Sponsor:
RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)