Lidl has revealed its British arm plunged into a loss but promised to maintain a focus on keeping prices low despite inflation costing it £100m to keep a lid on prices.
For the 52 weeks ending 28th February 2023, the German discounter’s sales jumped 18.8% to £9.3bn, yet it experienced larger pre-tax losses of £75.9m against profits of £41.1m in its previous year.
However, the company attracted an additional 1.4 million shoppers during the period and saw its market share increase from 6.1% to 7.1%, marking the most rapid growth experienced by the discounter in the past five years.
Despite the losses coming amid Lidl experiencing “challenging inflationary environment which led to an increase in costs across the board”, it has invested over £100m in keeping prices low for customers during a tough year for millions of households.
Additionally, the discounter opened almost 50 new stores, whilst securing multiple new sites for future expansion as it continued to publish its site requirements.
It has also maintained its position as the UK’s highest-paying supermarket by investing almost £50m in increasing the minimum hourly rates for store colleagues.
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Lidl GB CEO, Ryan McDonnell said: “We’ve always had a clear commitment to offer the best value to our customers and that is a promise we will always keep, even in uncertain economic times.
“Alongside preserving this price promise, rewarding our people and maintaining long-term relationships with our suppliers will always be a priority.
“As a privately-owned business we have the ability to make decisions that we know will have immediate benefits for our people, customers and suppliers and long-term benefits for our business.”
McDonnell continues: “The entire retail market has seen inflation, and we are no exception. However, for us, what is important is that our price gap to the traditional supermarkets is as strong as it has ever been.
“We’ve invested in keeping our prices low for customers in what has been a very challenging year for most and, with many more customers flooding through our doors each day, our ambition is to ensure that every single household has access to high quality, affordable food at their local Lidl store.”
The news comes as Lidl has opened its largest warehouse ever, following a £300m investment.
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Who’s scared of the Germans now?