Spar says its Irish sales grew 8.8pc as hospitality sector ‘fully recovers’

BWG Foods in Ireland had enjoyed a strong performance

Sean Pollock

Spar Group, the South African-listed retail group, said its sales in its Irish business have grown by 8.8pc.

According to its interim results for the six months ended March 31, 2023, Spar, which operates here through the BWG Group, had Irish sales of 17.1bn South African Rand (€860m). That is up from 14.9bn South African Rand the previous year.

The results said BWG Foods in Ireland had enjoyed a strong performance across all its convenience food retail brands including, Spar Express, Spar, Eurospar, Londis, Mace and XL.

The hospitality sector had also fully recovered post pandemic, the report said.

“This sector remains highly competitive and is dominated by four large players,” the report said. Across Ireland and South West England, BWG Foods had 1,103 stores, up from 1,094 stores.