Profits at wholesale group BWG Foods dipped by 20 per cent last year, newly filed accounts show.
BWG Foods, ultimately owned by South African-incorporated The Spar Group Limited, operates a number of retail and convenience brands in Ireland, including Mace as well as Spar, Eurospar, Londis and XL.
The group’s profit after tax for the year ended September 30th, 2023, amounted to €26.4 million, which was down from €33.2 million the year before.
The company generated a turnover of €1.6 billion in the period, up from €1.5 billion. Its operating profit came to €41.7 million, down from €45.6 million.
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The directors said the main indicator for the company’s financial performance was profit before tax, which amounted to €30.9 million, down 18 per cent on the €37.6 million it generated the year before.
The group acquired two wholesale businesses for €18.7 million during the year. It said the businesses were acquired to “access their customer base and new markets, and to avail of economies of scale and synergies”.
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BWG is wholly owned by the Spar Group, which first invested in the business in 2014 when it paid €55 million for an 80 per cent stake to help it restructure boomtime property debts.
Its management team, led by chief executive and former Ibec president Leo Crawford, sold the remaining 20 per cent to the Spar Group for €102 million in a performance-related deal, with the final tranche changing hands at the end of 2020.
The company announced a €35 million investment in its Mace retail business in March to support in-store improvements and marketing at the convenience franchise.
BWG highlighted that Mace registered record sales of €400 million in 2023, which was a 6.5 per cent increase on 2022.
The company forecast growth of 5 per cent in 2024 for the Mace business, with expected retail sales of €420 million.
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