South Africa's Spar Group said that its Ireland-based operations posted profit before tax of €16.1 million (R256.4 million) in the first six months of its financial year, boosted by a strong performance in the convenience sector.
Turnover at the Irish business, BWG Group, was up 8.0%, of which 2.5% was like-for-like growth, and 5.5% was driven by newly-acquired businesses.
Its Spar banner reported turnover growth of 3.8%, while Mace was up 3.7%.
'The threat of Brexit to the Irish economy has temporarily diminished, but the shadow of uncertainty still lingers,' Spar Group said in a statement.
'Management remains positively cautious in its outlook for the remainder of the year and believe that adequate plans are in place to respond to any market changes, thereby ensuring that Spar Ireland will again deliver results in line with expectation.'
Swiss Operations
Spar Group's Swiss operations, meanwhile, posted a loss before tax of €1.72 million (R27.4 million), due to an 'aggressive marketing campaign' in the first half of the year.
The Spar Switzerland banner saw a 1.8% decline in turnover, impacted by the decision to close or sell corporate stores. The Swiss wholesale business saw turnover up 3.3%.
Spar Group said that while the first half in Switzerland was 'weak', it is 'well positioned' for a better second half.
'The management of the Swiss business will maintain its focus on implementing the identified strategic initiatives to further improve the overall performance,' the group said.
'The immediate operational objectives are to drive sales volumes, while strictly managing margins. A far stronger second half result is expected from this business.'
Strong Performance
Overall, Spar Group, which also operates stores in its native South Africa as well as a host of other African countries, posted a 'strong' performance for the period, with turnover up 8.6% to R54.3 billion (€3.41 billion).
Its Southern Africa business posted turnover growth of 7.7%, with its Tops at Spar liquor stores seeing turnover rise 19.3%.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
