The UK’s number four supermarket chain jumped to the head of the like-for-like queue this Christmas, with a 9.5 per cent sales hike far outweighing that of its main rivals.
The figure, for same-store sales excluding fuel in the six weeks to January 6, compares very favourably with Tesco’s 3.1 per cent and Sainsbury’s 3.7 per cent and backs up the expectations of both analysts and Morrisons’ competitors, who had been predicting the strong showing by the Bradford-based chain.
Morrisons' total festive sales, which include the impact of new store openings, rose 11.6 per cent, or by 13.6 per cent including fuel.
Commenting on the results, Marc Bolland, ceo, said: “I am delighted with our Christmas performance. We welcomed significantly more customers to our stores, and they were well served with attractive offers and great fresh food. These strong results are further evidence that our rigorous focus on freshness, service and value is striking a chord with shoppers.”
He added that high profile ad campaigns, fronted by two Scots - football pundit Alan Hansen and singer Lulu - has played a large part in the upturn in fortunes.
Like its rivals, Morrisons sounded a note of caution about the general outlook for consumer spending. But its trading statement said: “…we believe that our strong value credentials will serve us well in these conditions.
“We are encouraged by our sales performance, which has built momentum steadily through the second half of the year. This is reflected in the Board’s confidence that the full year profit outturn for 2007/08 is likely to be at the top end of its expectations.”
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