Aldi sees pre-tax profits of €88m

Discount supermarket giant, Aldi recorded pre-tax profits of £70.5m (€88.4m) in its Irish and UK stores last year.

Accounts for the German- owned Aldi Stores Ltd just posted to the Companies Registration Office show the retailer recorded a 29% increase in revenues from £2.14bn to £2.76bn in the 12 months to the end of December last.

The £70.5m in pre-tax profits followed Aldi recording pre-tax losses of £56.8m in 2010 that arose mainly from £58.5m losses on the disposal of fixed assets.

Aldi has 96 stores in Ireland and will have 99 in operation by the end of this year. The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel show Aldi increased its market share of the Irish supermarket sector by 30% over the past year and is now the fifth largest player in the market.

Aldi, which does not disclose its sales or profits in Ireland, increased its operating profits five fold in Ireland and the UK from £18.6m to £102.9m last year. £26.4m from interest charges reduced the firm’s profits to £70.5m.

The directors’ report said “during the year, the group has continued to make significant investment in expanding its business, opening 29 new stores, extending and refurbishing a number of existing stores and preparing for further growth in the future”.

The directors “believe the group’s strong balance sheet will help support future growth of the business”.

The firm had shareholder funds totalling £1.5bn last year that includes accumulated profits of £304.1m. The firm’s cash last year increased from £130.7m to £293m.

In 2009, the group initiated disposal programme of older stores and assets surplus to requirements and this continued in 2011. As a result, it has made a decision to sell a number of sites which did not fit the core business model.

This has resulted in impairment provisions of £9m being charged to the profit and loss account in the year to reflect the market value of these sites.

The numbers employed by the company increased from 6,205 to 7,411 last year with staff costs increasing from £173m to £206.5m.

The highest paid director received £1.1m in emoluments and pension contributions last year.

The profit takes account of £74.9m in non-cash depreciation and £42.3m in operating lease rentals.