Gareth Ackerman will also retire as Chairperson after 14 years in the job and 40 years at the company, though he will stay on to support management until next year's annual results.

New Chief Executive Officer, Sean Summers, is tasked with reviving a business that has been losing market share to bigger rival, Shoprite, and others for more than a decade.

Founded by Raymond Ackerman in 1967, Pick n Pay was once SA's largest retailer, but "inappropriate strategic initiatives" over the last decade failed to prevent profit declines in the core business, Gareth Ackerman said on Monday.

This led the group, whose crown jewel is discount grocery chain, Boxer, to report a comparable loss before tax and capital items of $91 million in the year ended February 25, from a profit of $96 million the year before.

--Reuters--