UK retailer Morrisons has reported a 4.1% increase in like-for-like sales in the second quarter of its financial year.
Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 3.7% during the quarter to £3.8 billion (€4.5 billion), the company said in a trading update.
Underlying EBITDA for the first half, excluding the fuel business, grew 16% to £321 million (€379.8 million).
A 'Solid Quarter'
Morrisons saw 'good progress' across its three strategic pillars: commercial excellence, operations optimisation and new value creation, the company added.
Jo Goff, chief financial officer of Morrisons stated, “This has been another solid quarter of progress with sales and volume improvements right across the business.
“Our debt has now reduced by over a third and we made further progress on our cost savings programme, with £78 million (€92.3 million) delivered in the quarter, taking the total since the start of this year to just over £450 million (€532.4 million), in line with our £700 million (€828.2 million) three year target.”
Quarterly Highlights
Morrisons has completed the £2.5-billion (€2.96 billion) sale of petrol filling station business to MFG.
It also acquired 38 convenience stores in the Channel Islands from SandpiperCI and completed the conversion of McColl’s stores.
The chief executive of Morrisons, Rami Baitiéh, stated that he was “pleased with the overall performance of the business in the second quarter with supermarkets, convenience, wholesale and online all delivering growth.”
Baitiéh added, “This summer we are celebrating 125 years since Sir Ken Morrison’s father established the very first Morrisons store. This important milestone is a great platform to remind customers of the timeless values that Sir Ken built into the company and how our Market Street counters and our 18 food-making factories set Morrisons apart.
“Embracing, preserving and enhancing his legacy is the foundation for building the Morrisons of the future.”
Analyst Comment
According to Eleanor Simpson-Gould, senior retail analyst at GlobalData, “With Tesco reporting UK like-for-like sales growth of 4.6% for the 13 weeks ending 25 May 2024, a result not too dissimilar from its own, Morrisons will undoubtedly see this as a win after several years of market share erosion amid competition from the discounters.
“It is not out of the woods yet, as it will face stronger comparatives in the latter half of this financial year.”
