Morrisons has announced its first drop in profits for six years, while like-for-like sales fell 2.1 per cent, in its annual financial results.
The Morrisons group made an underlying pre-tax profit of £901 million in the year ending 3 February, down from the £935m it made in the 2011-12 year.
Although admitting it has been a 'difficult' year for trading, chairman Sir Ian Gibson says he remains positive despite a noticable decline in the retailer's performance.
“Although this has been a difficult year in trading terms for Morrisons as we struggled to grow sales in a tough consumer environment, we have delivered a 7 per cent improvement in underlying earnings per share and announced a 10 per cent dividend increase, in line with our previously stated policy.'
Analysts have blamed the Bradford based retailer's lack of a nationwide convenience store set-up and online groceries service for the recent decline in sales.
However, CEO Dalton Philips has promised that Morrisons will have an online service set up by the end of the year.
'We will be transacting online with food by the end of this year,' he told the BBC's Today programme. 'We've been studying the market for two years it's a market that is accelerating very quickly.'
FPJ understands that the service will not be fully integrated until 2014. Philips confirmed that Morrisons is currently in negotiations with online grocer Ocado for a deal on online technology.
Meanwhile, on the convenience front, Philips pledged that Morrisons will open 100 convenience stores in the coming months, adding to the 12 'M Local' already open to the public. The convenience market is seeing annual growth of 6 per cent.
Philips concluded: 'Today’s announcement that we are launching an online food offer in 2014 is another important step in Morrisons strategy of being ‘Different and Better than Ever’.
'We may be a late entrant to the online food market but we have learnt from our involvement with Kiddicare and Fresh Direct.'
