Lidl GB, the UK arm of the German discount supermarket chain, reported a near fourfold jump in profit for its 2024/25 year and said it would press ahead with expansion, including the opening of 40 new stores in its current year.
Britain's sixth largest grocer said on Wednesday it made a pretax profit of £156.8 million in the year to February 28 2025, versus a profit of £43.6 million in 2023/24, driven by a 7.9 per cent increase in revenue to £11.7 billion.
Lidl GB, which is owned by Germany's Schwarz Group, and rival Aldi have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, transforming the UK supermarket scene and forcing market leader Tesco and number two player Sainsbury's to compete more aggressively on price.
Industry data published last week showed Lidl GB's sales rose 10.8 per cent over the 12 weeks to October 5 year-on-year, giving it a UK grocery market share of 8.2 per cent, just 0.1 percentage point behind number five player Morrisons.
The data showed Lidl remains Britain's fastest-growing bricks and mortar supermarket, a title it has held for over two years.
In its 2024/25 year Lidl GB invested nearly £500 million in upgrading and expanding infrastructure, including new store openings. Next month it will open its 1,000th store.
(Reuters)