Aldi, the British arm of the German discounter, reported a 79 per cent decline in 2021 operating profit. However, the company has reported that trading had accelerated over the past six months since pandemic restrictions were reduced.

Earlier in September, Aldi overtook Morrisons to become Britain’s fourth-biggest supermarket group. Its operating profit declined to 60.2 million pounds (USD 63.8 million) in 2021 from 287.7 million pounds in 2020. The profit decline was primarily blamed on investment to keep prices low, higher staff costs and pandemic-related expenses. Sales increased 0.9 per cent to 13.645 billion pounds.

Aldi’s CEO Giles Hurley said preserving price discounts and rewarding people will always be more important to the company than short-term profit. He further said that being privately owned means the company can keep promises even during tough times.

Aldi and rival Lidl were hurt during the pandemic by the lack of significant online businesses. However, both have drawn customers from traditional supermarkets as the cost of living crisis has forced them to seek savings.
As per the data, Aldi’s sales growth is at 18.7 per cent over the 12 weeks to September 4, with a market share at 9.3 per cent, the highest in its 32-year history.

Currently, Aldi trades from nearly 970 stores. As part of a plan to invest 1.3 billion pounds, the company plans to open 16 more stores before the end of the year. It said its expansion would create over 6,000 jobs this year.