Kaufland experienced a 59 percent drop in profits to CZK 1.2bn in its latest financial year, a result it reported shortly after losing its position as the largest grocery retailer to Lidl. The company managed just CZK 56.2bn in annual revenues, a drop of 2.4 percent that left it more than CZK 1bn short of Lidl’s CZK 57.5bn showing. Lidl produced profits of CZK 4.8bn during 2019. Kaufland blamed rising labor costs and investments into store modernization projects and expansion. “In 2018, we raised entrance level salaries in operational positions at our stores by 26 percent,” said the company’s spokeswoman Renata Maierl. Kaufland is owned by the German group Schwarz, which also owns the Lidl chain.
