The Irish arm of German discount supermarket Aldi reported a 1.8 per cent fall in 2015 operating profit, reflecting a strategy to cut prices to maintain a gap over bigger rivals.

Aldi made an operating profit of £255.6 million (€294 m) for the 12 months, down from £260.3 million in 2014. Sales increased by £812 million to a record £7.7 billion (€8.8 bn) across Britain and Ireland, twice their level three years ago, as the discounter opened new outlets.

Aldi trades from 785 stores in Britain and Ireland. It said plans for 1,000 UK stores by 2022 were on track with 70 new sites scheduled for 2017.

– (Reuters)