Finance boss of Lidl UK quits after £76m loss

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Marco Di Costanzo is leaving after two years in the role



Lidl's finance chief has quit as the German-owned discounter struggles to achieve profitable growth.

Marco Di Costanzo is leaving after two years in the role. It is understood he will be taking up another post in the Schwarz retail empire that owns Lidl once a successor is named in the New Year.

His departure comes as experts predict another bumper Christmas for Lidl as it pursues an aggressive expansion plan.

Lidl has nearly 1,000 stores and is closing in on Morrisons as Britain’s fifth biggest grocer. It recently opened its largest ever warehouse, in Luton, costing £300million.

UK boss Ryan McDonnell has said there is ‘no ceiling’ on its expansion plans. But the land grab has come at the expense of Lidl’s bottom line.

Latest accounts – signed off by Di Costanzo – show the chain swung into a pretax loss of £76million in the year to February 2023 after interest paid on its borrowings almost trebled to £108million.

Lidl has almost £3billion of debt.

‘Lidl UK is not running well,’ said Marc Houppermans of Dusseldorf-based Discount Retail Consulting.

‘There is sales growth, but it is still loss-making,’ he said.

‘I assume the projected profitability targets for this year are not being reached so someone has to be kept account- able. Normally it’s the chief executive who has to leave.’

Lidl and no-frills rival Aldi now account for £1 in every £5.50 spent in supermarkets as shoppers continue to trade down from traditional food retailers.