Aldi UK & Ireland profit falls for third straight year

The UK and Irish arm of German discount supermarket Aldi reported a 17 per cent fall in 2016 operating profit on Monday, a third straight year of decline, reflecting its strategy of maintaining a price gap over larger rivals.

For the year to December 31st 2016, Aldi UK & Ireland made an operating profit of £211.3 million, down from £255.6 million in 2015.

Sales increased 13.5 percent to a record £8.74 billion.

Aldi, Britain’s fifth biggest supermarket, currently trades from 726 UK stores. It plans to have over 1,000 stores by 2022. In Ireland, Aldi currently has a presence in all 26 counties with a total 129 stores. Aldi does not disclose financial figures for its Irish operation.