Morrisons has reported yet another profit surge and the retailer continues its strong trading performance.
The supermarket saw underlying profits up 21 per cent to £767 million for the year ending 31 January, up from £636m a year earlier.
The Bradford-based group said pre-tax profits rose to £858m from £655m the previous year with revenues up by six per cent to £15.4bn.
Morrisons opened 45 new stores in the period, two of which were replacements, and promised to open up more smaller stores. Morrisons now has a total of 425 stores.
The group recently appointed Dalton Philips, a former Wal-Mart executive, to be its new chief executive from 29 March.
Its former chief executive, Marc Bolland, left the company in December. Mr Bolland is due to become the new chief executive of Marks and Spencer on 1 May.
Sir Ian Gibson, non-executive chairman, said: “Morrisons had another good year. Once again our focus on fresh food and great value appealed to shoppers everywhere, and we have successfully grown sales and profits to record levels. We completed delivery of the Optimisation Plan first launched four years ago, and we are well on the way to cementing our position as the food specialist for everyone. The opening of 43 new stores in the year accelerated our journey from National to Nationwide.
“We expect the economic environment to remain challenging, disposable incomes to be under pressure and value to remain a high priority for consumers. The Board believes that Morrisons unique offer of high quality, fresh food at great value prices will continue to attract customers from our competitors and drive market share growth in the year ahead. For the longer term, we will continue to utilise our balance sheet strength to invest for growth, with new space, new manufacturing capability and new systems priorities in the year ahead.”
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