The British arm of discount supermarket Lidl has said more shoppers are switching to it from traditional grocers during the cost-of-living crunch, as it reported a rise in full-year profit.
Lidl GB, part of Germany's Schwarz Group, said revenue in the year to February 28, 2022, rose 1.5% to £7.8 billion (€8.96 billion) while pretax profit was £41.1 million (€47.2 million), up from £9.8 million (€11.25 million).
Citing industry data, it said shoppers switched £58 million of spending from the traditional supermarkets - market leader Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - to it in the last month as they sought bigger savings.
Lidl and rival discounter Aldi, Britain's sixth and fourth largest grocers by market share, were hurt during the pandemic by the lack of significant online businesses, but have drawn customers from traditional grocers as living costs have accelerated.
The latest industry data shows Aldi and Lidl are currently Britain's fastest-growing grocers.
Inflation Hits New Highs
Last week, Kantar said that British grocery inflation hit 14.7% in October, another new record, and it is still too early to call the ceiling.
Kantar said 27% of UK households reported that they are struggling financially - double the proportion it recorded last November.
"Nine in ten of this group say higher food and drink prices are a major concern, second only to energy bills, so it’s clear just how much grocery inflation is hitting people’s wallets and adding to their domestic worries," Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight, said.
Separate recent studies by payments processor Barclaycard and the British Retail Consortium showed businesses fear a gloomy Christmas ahead, with almost half of households planning to cut festive spending and sales already falling sharply in inflation-adjusted terms.
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