Business

Morrisons savours 'improving performance' after festive season sales boost

Industry data showed supermarkets had their best Christmas for four years. Photo by PA Wire
Industry data showed supermarkets had their best Christmas for four years. Photo by PA Wire Industry data showed supermarkets had their best Christmas for four years. Photo by PA Wire

SUPERMARKET chain Morrisons reported a 2.9 per cent surge in like-for-like sales in the run up to Christmas, marking the group's best performance for seven years.

Its expected underlying profits for the year to the end of January would mark a significant rise on the £242 million posted a year earlier.

Morrisons, which has been seeing a steady recovery in sales thanks to an overhaul being led by chief executive David Potts, said its online arm contributed 0.6 per cent to the like-for-like sales hike over the nine-week period to January 1.

Mr Potts said customers "splashed out" over Christmas, with strong demand for its new premium 'Best' range.

The group saw ongoing falls in food prices during the season as the sector continued to wage a fierce price war, although the pace of declines was flat the previous three months.

Morrisons said any price pressure was also offset by a 5.2 per cent leap in the number of sales through its tills.

Mr Potts said, while the group remained "firmly in fix mode", he was "delighted to have found our form".

"Our customers are responding as we turn this great British business around," he added.

Shares jumped more than 4 per cent higher after the festive update.

Morrisons is the first of the 'Big Four' supermarkets to report for the key trading period, setting the scene for what is expected to have been a impressive Christmas for the entire sector.

Sainsbury's will be publishing its figures on Wednesday, with Tesco reporting on Thursday.

Industry data showed supermarkets had their best Christmas for four years, with Nielsen reporting a 3.3 per cent surge in sales across the sector over the four weeks to December 31.

Retail analysts at Bernstein said it was a "great Christmas" for the sector.

"This is a very strong result for Morrisons and is the second year in a row of positive like-for-like sales at Christmas, now building growth on growth," they added.