Discount supermarket group Aldi's UK and Ireland division has recorded a large slump in its year-end result for 2009, with a loss of £54.2m (€62m), down from a pre-tax profit of £93m (€106m) in 2008.
According to figures released to Companies House and reported by The Grocer, sales in 2009 climbed slightly by 1.7 per cent, up to just over £2bn (€2.3bn).
The group said that the loss was the result of heavy investment in revamping stores and purchasing new outlets, while Aldi also offloaded older stores and assets in the UK and Ireland.
'We are confident that our continuing investment programme will lead to both increased turnover and profitability,' said joint managing directors Matthew Barnes and Roman Heini.
Recent figures released by UK retail market analyst Kantar Worldpanel showed that the combined market share of discount retailers Aldi, Netto andLidl dropped from 6.1 per cent in 2009 to 6 per cent during the 12-week period ended 5 September 2010.
