Aldi: hit by slump in consumer spending

The Irish and British operations of German discount retailer Aldi slumped to a €66.5m loss after tax last year as competition and the slump in consumer spending hit the company. It had made a profit of more than €84.4m the previous year. Foreign exchange losses of nearly €27m also hit the company.

Turnover rose €37.4m to more than €2.35bn and the directors said they were confident that the group's continuing investment programme "will contribute to further increases in turnover and generate an operating profit in the future".

The number of employees rose to nearly 6,500 from just under 6,000 the previous year. It also added land and buildings worth nearly €190m to its property portfolio during 2009. Shareholders' funds stood at €1.43bn at the end of the last year.