Smart Money – SPAR Group CEO Angelo Swartz

In this Smart Money with Alishia Seckam interview, SPAR Group CEO Angelo Swartz discusses the company’s half-year earnings.

Swartz has been with SPAR Group for over seventeen years and has held many senior positions at the retailer.

Before taking the reins, he served as divisional managing director, divisional retail operations director, business development manager, and senior retail operations manager.

He became chief executive in October 2023. The time was challenging due to a problematic SAP ERP rollout at SPAR Group’s KwaZulu-Natal distribution centre.

Swartz has also faced the challenge of high interest rates and their impact on SPAR Group’s operations in South Africa. This did not affect his positivity about Spar’s prospects.

Swartz remains optimistic about the company’s future and believes that his team’s actions will benefit the popular South African retail brand in the long term.

Over the last year, the retailer’s share price increased by 11%, showing that Swartz’s leadership and strategy serve the company well.

The interview

In this Smart Money interview with Alishia Seckam, Swartz discusses his first few months at the helm of SPAR Group.

He explains what went wrong with the SAP ERP implementation by detailing the three key issues of the rollout strategy and how they are now being addressed.

Swartz reveals that the ERP-related challenges forced SPAR to compensate by increasing its stock and inventory levels – although these are in the process of returning to traditional levels.

He looks at positives from SPAR Group’s half-year earnings, including how several of its businesses – like liquor chain TOPS, pharmacy chain S Buys, and hardware chain Build it – have all shown excellent performance.

Swartz concludes the interview by discussing SPAR Group’s sale of its Poland business unit, which aligns with the group’s increased focus on its South African operations.

Watch the full interview with Angelo Swartz below.