Shoprite Holdings would consider expanding outside Africa as the continent’s largest food retailer seeks additional fast-growing markets, chief executive officer Whitey Basson said.

"There are countries that have great potential," Basson said in a phone interview on Tuesday, without giving a time frame. The company would be wary of overpaying for acquisitions if it decided to use that method of growth, he said.

A move outside the company’s home continent would follow in the footsteps of fellow South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings, which has transferred its primary listing to Frankfurt and made bids for companies in France, the UK and the US.

Shoprite chairperson and South Africa’s richest man, Christo Wiese, is also the biggest shareholder in Steinhoff.

Vietnam and Cambodia are examples of markets that look interesting to Shoprite, Basson said, while the company would consider India if the country further opens up its retail sector to foreign investors.

Unlike Steinhoff, the company doesn’t see many opportunities in Europe and high levels of competition in the US make expansion there difficult, the CEO said.

Shoprite operates in 15 African countries and got 17% of its trading profit from supermarkets outside its home market of South Africa in the year through June, compared with 12% a year earlier, the Cape Town-based company said in its full-year earnings statement.

The African continent remains the source of much of the retailer’s future growth, Basson said in the statement.

The shares fell 1.2% to R196.16 at 09:27 Johannesburg on Wednesday, valuing the company at R113bn.

The stock has advanced 37% this year, the best non-mining performer on the FTSE/JSE Africa Top 40 Index.

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