Spur Corporation lifted franchised restaurant turnover by 6.9% to R12.29bn in the year to 30 June 2026 and group revenue by 8.5% to R4.19bn, but a R129m litigation provision cut reported profit before income tax by 19.4% to R323.6m. Reported headline earnings per share fell 38.4% to 209.32c. Stripping out the provision, adjusted headline earnings per share rose 8.9% to 370.28c and adjusted profit before tax climbed 12.8% to R453.1m.
The provision relates to a long-running dispute with manufacturer GPS Food Group over an alleged oral agreement to build a joint rib-processing facility. Spur lost the arbitration and intends to appeal in February 2027. Directors nonetheless raised the total dividend 9% to 326c, a yield of 7.6%, supported by R488.6m generated from operations and R493.8m of unrestricted cash at year-end. Return on equity was 22.6%.
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Beneath the group figures the portfolio has split in two. The Spur brand, which contributes roughly 57% of franchised turnover, grew sales 5.8% to R7.03bn and segment profit 6% to R305.9m. Panarottis was the strongest performer at 16.3%. John Dory’s went the other way, with sales down 11.2% to R374.8m and segment profit down 23.3% to R7.7m.
| Brand | FY2026 franchised sales | Change | SA outlets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spur Steak Ranches | R7.03bn | +5.8% | 326, from 316 |
| Speciality Brands | R1.39bn | +8.0% | 80, from 79 |
| Panarottis | R1.21bn | +16.3% | 102, from 92 |
| RocoMamas | R1.05bn | +7.6% | 92, from 88 |
| John Dory’s | R374.8m | −11.2% | 39, from 44 |
This is the second consecutive year the John Dory’s network has contracted. The South African footprint fell from 44 franchised restaurants to 39, and the combined local and international network from 46 to 40. Across the group the direction was the opposite: 52 restaurants opened, 42 of them in South Africa, against 18 permanent closures, lifting the global footprint from 724 outlets to 751. Spur also sold its entire 62.37% interest in Nikos Franchise, removing a seven-store brand from the portfolio.
Management’s diagnosis is that John Dory’s lacks a sharply defined value proposition and has struggled inland against Ocean Basket, which dominates the mid-market seafood category away from the coast. The response is twofold: rationalise weak stores and develop a new seafood concept. At the February interims, when sales were 11.7% lower, the group said the brand was under review but that there was no plan to exit it.
The scale of the problem is smaller than the attention it attracts. John Dory’s accounts for about 3% of franchised turnover and under 2% of combined brand segment profit. Spur’s economics rest on royalties levied on restaurant turnover, so a brand delivering R7.7m of segment profit is a strategic distraction rather than a financial threat. It is also the group’s longest-running acquisition experiment, bought in stages from 2004, when it was a KwaZulu-Natal chain of seven outlets, to full ownership in 2012.
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Trading conditions were difficult across the year. A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak disrupted beef supply, and later fuel price increases squeezed household budgets. Management said July trading met expectations and described August as fairly good.
The immediate questions for shareholders are whether the February appeal reverses the GPS provision, and whether the new seafood concept arrives before the John Dory’s estate shrinks further.