On Monday, outgoing CEO of The Spar Group Angelo Swartz personally addressed his “situation” and explained his decision to leave the group after nearly two decades.
He told investors that the reset process to get the group back on sustainable footing was “exceptionally complex”.
Read: Shock Spar CEO resignation
He says: “The last five years in particular have required extraordinary focus and intensity. While I’ve been deeply committed to the business, it’s people and our retailers, the role has come at a significant personal cost. It’s time for me to prioritise my family after a demanding chapter.”
Swartz was appointed in October 2023. He resigned on Friday and will leave at the end of February. He will remain available to the new leadership for the next three months to “support an orderly transition and assist in concluding key strategic initiatives currently underway”.
This shock news saw the group’s share price close 7% lower at R83.89 on Friday.
Spar share price
Current CFO, Reeza Isaacs, will take over as CEO, while COO Megan Pydigadu will become CFO.
Isaacs described Swartz’s contribution over the past year that they have been working together (Isaacs only joined in January 2025) as completely “selfless”.
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The group says wholesale turnover in Southern Africa recorded “muted” growth of 0.9% year-on-year in the 18 weeks ended 30 January 2026. Its nascent Spar Health business grew turnover by 23% over the 18 weeks, with the grocery and liquor segment up 0.8%. Build It reported a sales decline of 2.4% impacted by “sector-wide construction pressure and adverse weather”.
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In South Africa (excluding neighbouring regions), retail sales grew 1.9% year-on-year (and by 2.25% on a like-for-like basis).
Swartz says that for the first time in a long time, this like-for-like growth compared favourably with its competitors.
Boxer reported like-for-like sales growth over the 22 weeks to 1 February of 2.4%, while for Shoprite, this metric for the second half of 2025 (a longer period) was 1.9%. Pick n Pay reported like-for-like sales growth in its South Africa business of just 0.9% over the 22 weeks to 1 February, dragged down by its franchise unit and clothing stores. Its company-owned supermarkets saw sales growth of 2.2%.
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Although Spar reported strong topline growth, bolstered by its Black Friday promotional activity, this did come at a cost to its margin.
Spar says the market was “highly competitive” with “low food inflation and deflation in several key categories”. In response to this, it “deliberately intensified promotional activity to support retailers, protect volumes, and reinforced its value proposition”.
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This meant that “gross profit margins in Southern Africa declined relative to the comparable prior period” which reflected “an unfavourable sales mix, the impact of our targeted promotional strategy over the Black Friday period, and our continued investment in loyalty and margin recovery initiatives in KwaZulu-Natal”.
Isaacs would not be drawn on the details but did say “margin levels were under pressure”.
Its BWG Group operation in Ireland remains the standout performer, with sales growth of 3.1% in local currency which equates to 6.1% in rand terms. Overall, Spar says group turnover was 2.1% higher over the 18 weeks.
“Heart of the business”
Swartz says the focus on returning Southern African to the “heart of the business” ought to be group’s the number one priority over the medium term.
Along with that, the technological transition the business needs to make (including the completion of its SAP and ERP rollouts) as well as the focus on “retail first” are the three biggest focus areas going forward.
He says there is full alignment between himself, the board, and the incoming leadership team. He believes that “both Megan and Reeza are exceptional leaders – they’ve been integral to the portfolio simplification, balance sheet stabilisation and the development of our margin recovery pathway. I’ve worked alongside them through this reset phase, and I have complete confidence in their ability to lead the next stage of disability execution.”
Following his exit as CEO, Swartz will remain engaged with the business for the next three months where he will focus on “on supporting the stabilisation of [the] KZN [region], the optimisation of our corporate store portfolio and undertake the structured handover, in particular, of key retailer relationships to Reeza.”
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