Morrisons is at risk of slipping to sixth place in the UK supermarket rankings this week, with fresh industry data expected to show Lidl overtaking the Bradford-based grocer.

Once part of the traditional “big four” alongside Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, Morrisons has already been displaced by Aldi and is now – according to new data to be published by Wordpanel (formerly Kantar) on Tuesday (19 August) – at risk of being leapfrogged by fellow discounter Lidl.

The latest challenge comes as CEO Rami Baitieh pushes to revive the business following its 2021 private equity-backed takeover.

Recent financial results revealed a swing to statutory pre-tax profit of £2.26bn for the year to 29 October 2024, compared with a £1.5bn loss the year before.

However, this was largely due to a £2.6bn gain from the disposal of 337 petrol forecourts to Motor Fuel Group. Losses from continuing operations halved to £538m.

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The supermarket giant has seen sales dip from £18.3bn to £17bn despite a 3.9% rise in like-for-like sales, meanwhile grew 4.2% to £3.9bn in Q2 of the current financial year, with underlying EBITDA up 7.2% to £344m in the first half.

Baitieh said value remained “at the forefront of customers’ minds” as the retailer leaned on price, promotions and loyalty rewards.

Elsewhere, the grocer has also been cutting costs with more than 3,600 jobs have gone in recent months through petrol station disposals, factory changes and in-store productivity measures, while the closure of over 50 cafés put a further 365 roles at risk.

Yet, rival supermarkets are also streamlining, with Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Tesco each announcing job cuts this year.

It is also not the first time a traditional grocer has been knocked out of the top rankings, in place of a of their rival discounter grocers.

In 2022, Aldi beat Morrisons to the position of the UK’s fourth largest grocer, meanwhile, in April Aldi surpassed Asda for market share of food and drink sales, despite Asda’s continued efforts to turn around its declining figures.