Revenue of the Hungarian unit of supermarket chain Spar rose 8.7pc to HUF 738.9bn in 2020 in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, managing director Gebriella Heiszler said.

The company operated 588 stores at the end of 2020, including 34 Interspar hypermarkets, 347 supermarkets and 207 franchise stores. It employed more than 14,000 people, 500 more than a year earlier.

Spar spent HUF 28.7bn on investments last year, expanding its logistics bases, developing its store network and adding a meat processing plant in Perbal (C Hungary), Ms Heiszler said.

Spar opened four new stores last year, renovated fourteen, and added 21 franchise units.