16th Sep 2019 14:36
(Alliance News) - Aldi Stores Ltd, the UK division of German discount chain Aldi Sud, on Monday reported rise in annual sales and said it will open more than 100 new stores in the UK over the next two years.
In 2018, Aldi saw an 11% year-on-year sales increase to GBP11.33 billion from GBP10.18 billion. According to Kantar Worldpanel data, the overall UK grocery market grew by 2.5% in 2018.
Aldi's pretax profit fell by 18% to GBP182.2 million from GBP220.9 million, however. The company said profit was lower in 2018 because it cut prices and made infrastructure investments. The company's capital expenditure increased by 19% to GBP531.1 million from GBP447.2 million in 2018.
It is also planning to invest a further GBP1 billion in 2019 and 2020 on upgrading existing stores as well as opening new ones.
Aldi said it will accelerate its London expansion and plans to have 100 stores in the capital by 2025 from current 45. The new stores will comprise of its standard-sized shops as well as smaller "local" chains on high streets.
In the whole of the UK, the company has 840 stores and plans to open 100 more over the next two years, targeting 1,200 stores by 2025.
In the 12 weeks to August 11, 2019, 800,000 more customers shopped with the supermarket, according to Kantar figures.
Giles Hurley, chief executive of the company's UK and Ireland operations, said: "While our expansion will continue to reach every part of the UK, we are increasing our focus on London, where our market share is just 3.4%, compared to 8.1% nationally. London shoppers regularly tell us they would switch to Aldi if there was one nearby, so there is clearly a significant growth opportunity for us in the capital."