Aldi to invest over £1.4bn as it reaches record sales
Aldi has said it plans to invest over £1.4bn into its store estate, as the supermarket retailer reveals record sales in 2022.
The retailer, which recently opened its 1,000th UK store, said it plans to open 18 new branches before the end of the year as it aims for a long-term target of up to 500 new stores.
This comes as Aldi said its annual sales reached their highest level in the retailer’s 33-year history in 2022, with the cost-of-living crisis having “transformed” the way British customers shop for groceries.
The retailer’s record £15.5bn sales figure for the 12 months ending December 2022 was £2bn higher than the previous year.
Aldi said its latest data shows its sales are growing at 17.1% – the fastest of any supermarket – with market share reaching 10.1%. It said its operating profit increased to £178.7m last year, up from £60.2m in 2021, with Aldi noting that the year-on-year increase was reflective of an exceptional 2021 during which it made significant investments in Covid-related measures.
Aldi also said that last year it overtook Morrisons to become the country’s fourth-biggest supermarket, with two-thirds of Britons now shopping there.
Giles Hurley, chief executive officer for Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Although inflation is easing, households are still under real pressure from higher living costs. As a result, Britain is shopping very differently to how it did 18 months ago – fewer trips, more own label products, and switching supermarkets in search of better value.”
He added: “There are still communities across the UK that don’t have easy access to quality, low price groceries and that’s something we want to address through our expansion, with plans to increase our investment even further over the next two years to £1.4bn in new and improved stores and distribution centres, creating thousands of jobs for our colleagues and more opportunities for our 5,000 British suppliers.”