The balance sheet of the largest domestic food retailer for the past year is mixed: the increase in sales, which can be attributed to inflation and expansion, is offset by a slump in profits.
In 2023, Spar achieved sales sales of more than 20 billion euros for the first time, a good half of which, at 9.88 billion, came from Austria. While food discounters have been on the rise in Germany due to rising prices, they have lost market share in Austria, says Spar boss Hans K. Reisch. Spar benefited from this.
In the previous year, the Salzburg trading group increased its market share in Austria by 0.5 percentage points to 36.8 percent. According to data from NielsenIQ, competitor Rewe increased by 0.2 percentage points to 33.9 percent. Hofer and Lidl together came to 22.9 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points. “We make decisions from Salzburg and some others from Germany. We reach out to consumers and make our decisions very quickly,” says Reisch.
Spar’s consolidated profit fell by 16 percent to 221 million euros in the previous year. High personnel and energy costs as well as the special tax in Hungary (which OÖN reported) had a negative impact.
Because of the price increase, consumers are increasingly turning to their own brands, says Reisch. There were increases at S-Budget, Spar Veggie and Natur*pur. The share of sales of own brands in the overall range is now 43 percent.
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Hervis branch network streamlined
Business at Hervis is not going as well. The sports trading subsidiary made similar losses in 2023 as in 2022, at that time they were 30 million euros. Sales fell by seven percent to 514 million euros. Hervis is therefore thinning out its branch network. In Austria, six of the 105 locations are expected to be eliminated, as are six in Bavaria. Hervis also has 21 locations in Slovenia, 33 in Hungary, 20 in Croatia and 52 in Romania. Hervis wants to reposition its existing own brands and expand the service area. When it comes to ski or bike service, there should be the same standard in all shops.
Spar is also making losses in its online business. The retailer has 52,000 employees in Austria and 92,000 across the group. Spar wants to invest around 850 million euros at home and abroad this year.
Lamarr shell: cancellation
“It is not possible to turn the shell of the building into a shopping center. The value of this property is the price of the property minus demolition.” This is what Spar boss Hans K. Reisch says regarding the Lamarr construction site on Mariahilfer Straße. As reported, the shell is only 30 to 40 percent complete. Due to the insolvency of Signa’s flagship Signa Prime Selection, financing for the construction completion was no longer secured. According to the liquidator Clemens Richter, there is “lively interest from home and abroad” for the shell. The property would be acquired by the buyer without any debt; any liens might be fully or partially paid off from the sales proceeds. The multi-story department store was originally scheduled to open in spring 2025.
