{"id":877166,"date":"2026-09-28T12:03:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877166"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:03:42","slug":"spar-braces-for-bad-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/877166\/spar-braces-for-bad-news\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAR braces for bad news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Retail group SPAR is expecting to underperform in its 2026 financial results, as boardroom drama and guild disputes have weighed on the retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said in a voluntary update on SENS that it expected to underperform from the 2025 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It noted that operational pressure was concentrated in Southern Africa, particularly in its groceries and liquor segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Operational improvements have not yet translated into sufficient earnings or cash benefits to offset that pressure,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It noted that group sales revenue had moderated since its last interim trading period, and revenue growth in Southern Africa had been modest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR said the modest revenue growth in Southern Africa came as “wholesale volumes and trading remained subdued in a competitive consumer environment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Consumer sentiment and consequently wholesale revenue continued to be under pressure with higher fuel, utility costs and elevated interest rates,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said it would announce its earnings per share ranges once it had reasonable certainty, in line with JSE listing requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forecast of a weak financial performance comes after SPAR has been at odds with its guild over the company’s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR does not directly operate its stores; instead, it works with independent retailers represented in its guild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its update, SPAR said it had been working on improving the relationship between the company and its guild members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Collaboration between SPAR and its independent retailers continues to improve, with a greater focus on shared operational and commercial priorities,” the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in 2026, the SPAR guild petitioned to remove<\/a> the company’s former chairman, Mike Bosman, over a lack of belief in his leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following pressure from the guild, Bosman and deputy chairperson Shirley Zinn resigned on 17 August 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guild also raised concerns over procurement processes within the company, following distribution challenges for the retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company previously attempted to implement new SAP software at its KwaZulu-Natal distribution centre, which led to major losses and a R168 million lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The search for new directors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Former SPAR Group executive chairman Mike Bosman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In its latest update, SAPR provided an overview of the appointment process for the chairman and non-executive director positions, following the resignations of Bosman and Zinn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Nomination Committee has appointed an independent search firm to support the recruitment process for these positions,” SPAR said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Board aims to finalise and announce the appointment of the Chairperson and additional non-executive directors by early November 2026.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These appointments would form part of the company’s larger turnaround strategy, which the retailer expects to build progressively through its 2027 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other parts of this turnaround strategy include the turnaround, or potential closing, of underperforming corporate stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR said it had also tightened its promotional discipline and would monitor key value items to ensure profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In KZN, the company said it had exited its temporary overflow facility, cutting lease costs, and had completed the remediation of the province’s distribution centre flooring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group emphasised that KZN was a key focus, and that it was closely monitoring its performance in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“KZN\u2019s recovery remains a priority, with month-on-month improvement in gross margin being observed,” the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Group will continue to work through the Guild and formal governance structures on the commitments arising from this work,” SPAR said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The relationship will be strengthened by consistent delivery and improved retailer outcomes, while difficult issues continue to be addressed directly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turnaround strategy follows a difficult year for the retailer, during which its share price has plummeted since January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year-to-date, SPAR has lost approximately R10 billion in market cap, and its share price has fallen by over 50%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spar is bracing for underperformance in the last reporting period, following a year marred by leadership changes and internal disputes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":865989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2104512451286872534","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2219344678885931","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18130694938755429","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26181,26183,9838,26635],"class_list":["post-877166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-mike-bosman","tag-shirley-zinn","tag-spar","tag-spar-guild"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877166"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877192,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877166\/revisions\/877192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}