Iceland is expecting to deliver its highest profit in over a decade thanks to its increased focus on value and cost-saving measures.
The supermarket shared with bondholders last week it was confident that this year’s underlying profit will be its strongest in ten years and exceed the £176m it made in 2021 following a sales boost as a result of the closure of hospitality space in the lockdowns, The Times reported.
It attributed the profit boost to energy cost savings, strong sales growth and cost-cutting measures.
Iceland has been supporting its customers to help manage rising grocery costs by freezing the price of hundreds of products to £1, as well as giving over-60 customers a 10% discount on Tuesday and offering customers interest-free loans between £25 and £100.
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“We strive to do all we can to help our customers, especially when there is economic uncertainty,” an Iceland spokesperson told the outlet.
“We constantly check all our prices to ensure that we offer our customers better value than the major supermarkets across our whole product range — and we are significantly cheaper for frozen food.”
However, Iceland’s strong forecast has increased scrutiny on whether supermarkets have been profiteering from rocketing food inflation, which hit a 45-year high in April at 19.1%.
Last week, bosses from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco rejected calls of “greedflation” and told MPs at the Business and Trade Committee that they were shielding customers from the full impact of rising costs.
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