"They had to take action as the market underwent redistribution following the arrival of a serious new player, so they had to act to keep their market share. The game rules changed. Lidl played with the prices aggressively, and others had to keep up. Advertising spending increased and prices of certain goods were kept low," Nerius Jasinavicius, director of Toc Sprendimai consultancy, told the website, adding that lower alcohol sales were also behind a drop in profits.
Maxima LT's net profit slid 20 percent to 54.1 million euros and stood at 53.5 million euros after the chain paid a fine for a cartel agreement with Mantinga, the vz.lt reports.
Norfos Mazmena posted 7.4 million euros in net profit, down 7.4 percent. And Rimia Lietuva, including its Hakonlita subsidiary, posted a net profit of 876,300 euros, down 34 percent.
As BNS Lithuanian reported earlier, Iki grocery chain's operator Palink earned 10.119 million euros in net profit, up 15.9 percent from 2016.
Lidl Lietuva has not yet published its financial results for the past fiscal year that ended in February.
