SPAR’s 2025 Results: Resilience Amid Rising Costs and Restructuring.

Loading player...
Reeza Isaacs, CFO – The SPAR Group

SPAR has delivered a mixed set of full-year results showing resilience in a tough retail environment, but also revealing the financial pressures still weighing on the business. For the 52 weeks to 26 September 2025, the supermarket group grew headline earnings per share by 3%, lifted by a stronger second half and disciplined cost control. Turnover from continuing operations edged up 1.6% to R131.5 billion, while gross profit rose 3.3%, with margins improving to 10.8%.

But higher financing costs and a rising tax rate squeezed the bottom line, leading SPAR to withhold a dividend for another year as it continues to repair its balance sheet. The group made big progress on that front slashing net debt from R9.1 billion to R5.4 billion, helped by the disposal of its loss-making operations in Switzerland and Poland.

Southern Africa remains the group’s earning engine, with operating profit up 6.8%, offsetting a softer performance in Ireland. With streamlined operations, reduced leverage, and a renewed focus on execution, SPAR says 2026 will be a year of reset and rebuilding.
8 Dec 2025 3PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

Other recent episodes

Your Retirement, Your Rules: ETFSA’s Starter Pack Explained

Retirement planning doesn’t need to be intimidating. Suzan Ramotshabi breaks down the biggest barriers stopping South Africans from investing, including Black Tax and fear of making mistakes. She explains how the Starter Pack works, additional ETFSA solutions, and the one step listeners can take today to begin their retirement journey…
23 Sep 1PM 22 min

SARB Tightens: What the 25bps Hike Means for You

The SARB surprised markets with a unanimous vote to hike rates by 25bps, landing against rising inflation expectations and global volatility. Johann Els unpacks the policy mood shift, the 4.4% inflation print, rand vulnerability, and how this decision affects credit conditions, household budgets, and South Africa’s growth outlook heading into…
23 Sep 12PM 14 min

The State of SA Insurance: Climate, Claims & Consumer Strain

South Africa’s insurers are navigating a perfect storm: higher catastrophe losses, rising claims inflation, affordability strain, and a shifting risk landscape shaped by climate volatility and crime. Santam’s Partner Solutions CEO, Gugu Mtetwa, unpacks the sector’s resilience, the worsening underinsurance problem, consumer behaviour shifts, and how insurers are adapting to…
22 Sep 1PM 24 min

Measured Momentum in SA Banking: Earnings Up, Risks Rising

South Africa’s major banks delivered headline earnings growth of 9.3% to R82.3 billion, stronger ROE at 20.5%, and improved cost‑to‑income ratios — but beneath the numbers lies a fragile domestic recovery and renewed inflation pressure. PwC’s Rivaan Roopnarain breaks down the competitive dynamics across retail, business, corporate and payments ecosystems,…
22 Sep 1PM 14 min

Crypto’s Turning Point: Sound Money Capital says Bear Market Dead

After eight months of grinding weakness, crypto snapped sharply higher in August — and Sound Money Capital was fully allocated ahead of the turn. CIO Rob Price explains why seller exhaustion, ETF capitulation, and policy intervention signal the end of the bear market. With Bitcoin reclaiming key resistance and market…
22 Sep 1PM 15 min