Iceland sees full-year profits warm up

● Retailer sees efforts to restore growth bear fruit with profits up 6%

head office last year, which has helped in the development of more luxury and speciality ranges. The supermarket opened 28 new UK stores in the year, planning a national rollout of a new format and including 24 larger stores under The Food Warehouse branding, which combines a cash-and-carry format and the more traditional Iceland style. This left the business with a total of 884 UK outlets.

Its first store in Scotland under The Food Warehouse fascia will be opening in Clydebank on 20 June.

Iceland also had 12 locations in Ireland at year-end after two openings during the period. “Our fledgling business in the Czech Republic, where we added a sixth store during the year, is beginning to achieve popular recognition and is delivering sales growth. We continue to export Iceland brand products around the world, including to our network of franchise stores,” the company said.

Walker also said in the earnings statement that trading in the new financial year is “solid”, with like-for-like sales growth remaining positive.

The figures come during a period of flux in the supermarket sector, with Britain’s so-called Big Four still losing ground to discounters Aldi and Lidl.