Sales at supermarket giant Iceland passed the £4bn mark during its latest financial year as its pre-tax loss was slashed by more than £30m, according to newly-filed accounts.
The Flintshire-headquartered chain has posted a revenue of £4.2bn for the year to March 29, 2024, up from the £3.9bn it reported during the prior 12 months.
Documents filed with Companies House have also revealed that Iceland’s pre-tax loss was reduced from £36.6m to £5.7m in the year.
Iceland opened seven new stores in the UK during the year and closed 36, reducing its estate to 968.
The supermarket chain also reduced its headcount from 29,118 to 28,090 in the year.
Iceland hails ‘very successful year’
A statement signed off by the board said: “The group had a very successful year, achieving a substantial increase in adjusted EBITDA.
“Investments in our customer proposition during Q3 delivered industry-leading volume sales growth in Q4, establishing a momentum which continues with strong like-for-like sales progress in FY25 to date.
“We are able to offset the inflationary pressures on the business through cost-saving initiatives across our stores, digital operations and end-to-end supply chain.
“We have reduced group gross debt and leverage measure to the lowest level since the bond financing structure was established in 2014 and we retain a very strong car position with balances of over £148m at the year end.
“The successful refinancing of £475m of our £550m 4.625 per cent senior secured notes due 2025, through the issue of a combination of fixed rate sterling and floating rate Europe notes which will mature in December 2027, has given is the longevity we require in our capital structure to continue successfully trading the business and drive future growth.”
Iceland’s UK revenue increased from £3.8bn to £4.1bn in the year but fell from £38m to £23.2m in Europe and from £3.6m to £3.3m in the rest of the world.