UK: Aldi grows profits and market share

Supermarket chain Aldi has announced a big increase in its full year profits as it continues to enhance its market share. The group booked a rise of 65.2% to £260.9 million ($423.8 million) in pre-tax profits for the year ending December 2013, while group turnover rose 35.7% to £5.27 billion ($8.56 billion) over the period.

According to industry analysts, Aldi’s market share grew from 3.1% to 4% in 2013, and at present stands at 4.8% following a strong performance in 2014.

Aldi UK group managing director Roman Heini said: "We keep prices constantly low while keeping product quality consistently high, which is exactly what shoppers want", adding: "They had become used to thinking you have to pay more for better products. We've shown them this doesn't have to be the case".

Aldi opened 42 new stores in 2013, and has plans to open 54 new stores this year, followed by another 60 to 65 stores in 2015. This would bring the chain’s total UK store count to over 600.

Aldi group managing director Mathew Barnes said: "We're investing over £600m in our operations over the next two years to support this growth."

Source: BBC