Shares in Spar Group jumped almost 3% in early trade on Friday after the company announced that JPMorgan has acquired a beneficial interest in the retailer through various of its subsidiaries.
“Following the acquisition, JPMorgan now holds 5.23% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the company,” Spar said in a note to shareholders.
Spar last month declared an interim dividend of 280 cents per share (+40%) for the six months to end-March on the back of a 7.5% increase in Group turnover to R64.2bn and a 28.1% rise in operating profit to R1.7bn.
With more than 850 stores nationwide Spar is one of the leading retailers across Southern Africa.
By 12.30 on the JSE, Spar was trading up 2.79% at R189.79, down from an intraday high of R190.44. Other retailers showing good gains are Woolworths (+2.86% to R55.79) and Shoprite (+2.56% to R158.36).
