Spur flags earnings jump as it raises the steaks in market share gains

Restaurant group Spur has flagged a surge in interim group sales of nearly a third, appearing to grow market share as consumers returned to restaurants amid unprecedented blackouts.

The owner of brands such as Spur, RocoMamas, Panarottis and John Dory's battled achieved a 31.5% increase in franchised restaurant sales for the six months to December 2022, and a nearly tripling of earnings - despite challenging market conditions, with rising inflation and a dramatic increase in load shedding, which it said directly impacted its supply chain. 

Analysts said the restaurant group's results were surprisingly good, and likely reflected its streamlined product offering, but also the benefits of its scale, given that smaller competitors may have been harder hit by the frequent power outages.