Spar of S. Africa Focuses on Home Market After Poland Exit
- Food retailer plans to split brand into premium and discount
- Cash freed up by Polish departure to be used to pay debt
A Spar Group Ltd. supermarket in Pretoria, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Spar Group Ltd., South Africa’s second-largest grocer by revenue, plans to cut debt and focus on its home market after exiting Poland this year.
The company, which is in talks to restructure its obligations, expects withdrawing from the loss-making Polish unit will free up about 500 million rand ($27 million) of earnings a year. Spar has 10 billion rand of debt — largely euro-denominated — with about 250 million rand due this year.