Spar turnover rises 6.6% in Republic at half-year stage

Owner says 1,000 outlets hugely outperformed other parts of its grocery empire, including in Switzerland, Poland, and South Africa

Spar Group's BWG operates more than 1,000 outlets in the Republic, and shops in South West England.

The international owner of Spar and Eurospar said the 1,000 outlets the group operates in the Republic hugely outperformed other parts of its grocery empire, including in Switzerland, Poland, and South Africa. 

In a trading update, the Johannesburg-based Spar Group said its BWG firm, which also operates the Mace, Londis, XL retail brands, and a number of wholesale businesses in the Republic, traded "strongly" with an increase of 6.6% in turnover in the 24 weeks to the middle of March. 

The performance compared with a "challenging" rise in costs for shoppers in Switzerland, which pegged its turnover growth there to 4.7%, while turnover in  Poland fell in the same period. Spar Group said it had made progress in in its previously-announced plans to sell up in Poland. The Dublin-based BWG retail and wholesale business also controls retail outlets in South West England. BWG currently operates more than 1,000 outlets across all the businesses it operates in the Republic. Spar in the North is owned separately.

Spar Group said it was looking at the best level of debt it should carry, taking "into consideration the outcome of the Polish disposal process". 

But it was sticking to its group-wide business model. "This model, where the corporate invests in the distribution infrastructure, and the independent retailer invests in their stores, allows Spar to maintain its infrastructure across the value chain without placing the entire financial burden on a single party," it said. The group plans to post the full results for the the six months on June 12.