Morrisons has returned to growth for the first time in two years, as it posted its first increase in sales since it was bought for £7bn by private equity giant Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021.
The supermarket chain – which has been struggling to get itself out of a downward spiral – reported a 3.4% increase in total sales to £4.7bn for the 13 weeks to January 29, 2023 – with group like-for-like sales excluding fuel inching up by 0.1%.
During the period, the supermarket chain said it had invested further in “significant price cutting” to “help customers through the cost-of-living crisis”, and has targeted £700m of cost savings over the next three years.
A focus on its My Morrisons loyalty scheme is also leading to “greater customer engagement”.
Meanwhile, Morrisons also opened its 500th Daily convenience store this week in Salford. The retailer acquired convenience business McColl’s in May 2022, and there are now 350 of the chain’s former stores operating as Morrisons Daily stores.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
But with food price inflation at a 45-year high of 18%, sales by volume remained lower.
It comes as Morrisons has been rolling out price cuts across a further 490 products recently, in its third attempt this year to stop shoppers from switching to discount grocer Aldi.
“We still have plenty of work to do, but momentum in the business is now building with an improving trajectory over the last three quarters and like-for-like sales now in positive territory,” Morrisons CEO, David Potts said.
“Our market share has stabilised, our inflation rate is below our peers and Morrisons’ traditional competitiveness, colour and dynamism is steadily returning to every part of the business.
“We have targeted £700m of cost savings over the next three years. This saving will help drive the performance of the business by enabling further investment in our loyalty programme, increasing the pace of McColl’s conversions and putting more hours into our stores, as well as mitigating the significant cost headwinds that we face.”
He added that although this has been another difficult period for consumers, with inflation continuing to skyrocket, Potts said: “We have continued with our programme of regular and meaningful price investments, enabled by a strong start to our cost-savings programme.”
He concluded, saying: “The cornerstone of the improving picture at Morrisons has been our colleagues. Across the whole business, they have continued to help our customers by providing a colourful, vibrant, fresh food-focused shopping experience and I want to thank everyone at Morrisons for their continued hard work and positivity.”
2 Comments. Leave new
Morrisons will disappear within 5 years.,
Yes, it appears to be going down fast.
A visit to my local Morrisons in York showed unstocked shelves, badly damaged cereal boxes repaired with tape and put back on shelves and only one person on checkout.
The remaining staff are doing their very best to keep the place going but it’s obvious that morale is low and they are hemorrhaging staff.
Not a great shopping experience.