Aldi UK has reported a 16% rise in sales in Britain and Ireland to £17.9 billion in 2023, a year that saw grocery inflation peak at 17.5% in March.
The retailer said its prices this year were on average lower than a year ago, easing some inflationary pressures for shoppers who were treating themselves to more of its premium ranges.
Chief executive Giles Hurley said sales growth had slowed this year as inflation sharply declined, with the most recent 12-week data showing Aldi was achieving growth of 0.5% compared to two-year growth of over 20%.
These results put Aldi behind some of its rivals, including Lidl.
Hurley said the slowdown was not surprising, given Aldi was already reducing prices ahead of the market.
Hurley told reporters, “The latest data from Kantar shows Aldi is the only supermarket that’s not inflating, while our own internal data shows that over the summer our prices were lower on average than they were a year ago.”
He said that times were still tough for millions of families across the UK, and Aldi still offered them value.
“(But) I think some customers are feeling the effect of inflation easing, and they’re choosing to trade up or possibly choosing to treat themselves at home instead of that restaurant experience in the hospitality sector,” he said.
Looking Ahead
The retailer trails Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda in sales.
Pretax profit in 2023 more than trebled to €536.7 million as its opening margin recovered to 3.1%.
It had fallen to 1.2% in the previous year, largely due to pandemic-related costs.
Hurley said he was confident total sales would increase this year as Aldi opens another 23 stores, implements further price cuts and unveils its Christmas range.
Aldi will end 2024 with 1,050 stores in the UK, he said, adding that the retailer’s ambition to reach 1,500 stores remains unchanged.
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