Frozen food giant Iceland fell to a pre-tax loss of £4.1m last year - compared with a profit of £73.1 million in the previous year - as sales and market share dropped.
Sales fell 4.3% to £3.55bn while its market share went from 2.4% to 2.3% in the 12 months up to March 25. This reflected the contraction of the online grocery market, in which Iceland achieved a strong position during the pandemic.
The Deeside headquartred company opened 19 new stores but closed 21 over this period while staff numbers - which had been boosted over the pandemic - fell by around 1,400 to 28,850. In its outlook for the current financial year the company said it had seen year-on-year sales growth in the 12 weeks to June 18.
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They said they had made it clear to customers the firm would do all they could to support them during the cost-of-living crisis with price freezes on some items and were helping staff by increasing the worker discount from 10% to 15%.
Bosses added that traditionally Iceland had traded well in previous periods when UK GDP has dropped and household spending was squeezed. But they said like other retailers they were facing “unprecedented” pressure on input and operating costs.
This had meant raising prices overall to reflect those cost increases but that they remained cheaper than the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons), based on their top 200 items. They said like others they faced uncertain and volatile energy prices that are expected to impact on future profits.
But the firm expects to invest in 25 new stores in the UK over the year - with plans for one in Bangor. They said the strong cash position, iconic brand name and family ownership provided it with the foundations for sustainable and profitable long term growth.
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