SPAR says it will stay in Hungary only on “reasonable” terms, CEO warns

Austria’s SPAR Group has again raised the possibility of scaling back its presence in Hungary, saying it can remain in the country only if conditions become “reasonable”. In a recent interview, CEO Hans K. Reisch said the Hungarian subsidiary is performing “highly negatively”, citing the combined impact of Hungary’s sector-specific retail tax and a government-imposed cap on supermarket margins.

What SPAR says is driving losses in Hungary

Reisch said the special retail tax cost SPAR around €85 million last year, while the margin restriction (a cap on trade margins for certain food products) added roughly €37 million in costs. In his words, SPAR would like to remain in Hungary, but only “under reasonable conditions”.

For foreign readers: Hungary has applied a progressive retail surtax on large food retailers for several years, with the highest band reaching up to 4.5% of net sales in the sector; in addition, the government has used price and margin controls to curb food inflation.

Capital injection and store closures add to pressure

Hungarian media site HVG reports that SPAR’s Austrian owner recently provided a HUF 30 billion capital injection to support its Hungarian unit — about €77.4 million at the ECB reference rate of HUF 387.54 per €1 (12 March 2026). The aim, according to reporting, was to prevent the subsidiary’s equity position from slipping into negative territory.

SPAR has also pointed to store-level impacts. It recently closed a shop in Oroszlány, and the company linked that decision to the retail surtax and the margin cap, arguing that smaller neighbourhood stores with limited parking and higher fixed operating costs are hit especially hard by these measures.