Morrisons will be the last major UK supermarket group to reveal its Christmas figures tomorrow [Tuesday], and the Yorkshire based chain is expected to trump its rivals and polish the halo that has shone over it in City circles recently.
The UK’s number four supermarket was singled out for praise by TNS a couple of weeks ago, having raised its share of the sector to 11.4 per cent, and it is also thought to have stolen a march on the rest of the high street with the biggest like-for-like sales growth of the festive period.
Tesco's reported below forecast sales growth of 3.1 per cent for the six weeks to January 5. Sainsbury's fared better with a 3.7 per cent hike in like-for-like sales and Waitrose delivered 4.1 per cent growth. Asda claimed its best Christmas sales ever, but does not release precise data.
The benchmark figure is expected to have risen by as much as seven per cent during the six weeks to January 6, although there is a swing between five and nine per cent amongst analysts.
Clive Black, retail analyst at Shore Capital, said: "Morrisons should confirm that it has been the food retail star for 2007, at least in terms of like-for-like sales growth. Morrisons' chief executive Marc Bolland has demonstrated his strong marketing credentials with excellent advertising, backed up by the ongoing outstanding store execution and a major promotional campaign."
Morrisons spent heavily on football pundit Alan Hansen, singer Lulu and Strictly Come Dancing star Gabby Logan for the Christmas ad campaign.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said there is more to it than image: "The refreshing of new stores this year and the aggressive advertising campaigns over the past three months appear to be gaining traction with customers."
But John Kershaw, analyst at Merrill Lynch, added a note of caution: "Let's not get too carried away, yet. Morrisons' message may be better but its stores, systems and offer still require work."
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