Lidl swings to loss despite revenues rising to £9.3bn

Lidl has reported a loss before tax of £75.9m despite seeing an 18.8% increase in its revenues to £9.3bn in FY23, according to its latest accounts for the 52 weeks ending 28 February 2023.

Its EBITDA also dropped to £28.5m compared with £79m FY22 as it invested over £100m in keeping prices low for customers.

Despite that, Lidl’s market share increased from 6/1% to 7.1% as the company attracted an additional 1.4 million shoppers.

It also maintained its position as the UK’s “highest-paying” supermarket by investing almost £50m in increasing the minimum hourly rates for store colleagues

Lidl said that this was the “most rapid growth” it had experienced in five years.

During the period Lidl also opened more new stores than any other supermarket as customer numbers and market share continued to surge.

Ryan McDonnell, Lidl GB CEO: “We’ve always had a clear commitment to offer the best value to our customers and that is a promise we will always keep, even in uncertain economic times. Alongside preserving this price promise, rewarding our people and maintaining long-term relationships with our suppliers will always be a priority. As a privately-owned business we have the ability to make decisions that we know will have immediate benefits for our people, customers and suppliers and long-term benefits for our business.

“The entire retail market has seen inflation, and we are no exception. However, for us, what is important is that our price gap to the traditional supermarkets is as strong as it has ever been. We’ve invested in keeping our prices low for customers in what has been a very challenging year for most and, with many more customers flooding through our doors each day, our ambition is to ensure that every single household has access to high quality, affordable food at their local Lidl store.”

He added: “As a company, we’re entering an exciting new phase of growth where we are bolstering our infrastructure to sustain us for the long term and hiring thousands of new colleagues too.
“Next year will mark 30 years of Lidl in Great Britain, and there is no ceiling on our ambitions for the next 30 as we see the potential for hundreds of new stores across Great Britain. In many ways our brand has never been more relevant. We are, and will continue to be, a discount retailer maintaining a relentless focus on providing our customers with great quality at unbeatable prices.”