Spar Austria

Spar Austria, the second-largest food chain in the country, has announced this week that it grew market share in the country’s supermarket business by 1 per cent through the full-year of 2010, up to 29.5 per cent.

The group, which only trails Rewe International in terms of market share, revealed that growth had been achieved as the result of a 4.5 per cent rise in turnover to €5.15bn, the Austrian Independent reported.

Spar’s store portfolio increased during the 12-month period, growing to 1,502 shops across the country’s nine provinces, compared with 1,494 outlets in 2009.

Headed by chief executive officer Gerhard Drexel, the group is based in Salzburg and has some 74,000 employees.