Lidl profits quadruple as cash-strapped British shoppers look for bargains

Discount grocer bounces back from Covid disruption as profits in Great Britain soared 319% from last year

Lidl has said it has taken 58m in additional sales from traditional supermarkets in the past month, as shoppers look for ways to save money, after quadrupling profits in a bounce back from Covid disruption.

The German-owned discount grocer, said its British sales rose 1.5% to 7.8bn in the year to the end of February but pretax profits soared 319% to 41.1m as the group trimmed costs as measures to control the Covid-19 virus eased.