Morrisons ends 18-month sales decline
MORRISONS has received a timely boost 48 hours before its AGM after the latest sales figures showed its first increase since December 2013.
Although the improvement was by 0.1% for the 12 weeks to May 24, it reverses a trend that was in danger of becoming chronic.
The Bradford-based supermarket had hoped that new chief executive David Potts could reverse their fortunes and these figures, which cover the first 10 weeks of his time in post, provide sales data to back up anecdotal views that his swift changes have made a positive impact.
Mr Potts faces his first AGM on Thursday, while Morrisons may drop out of the FTSE 100 this week – a consequence of a long decline in its share price throughout 2014.
Data from analysts Kantar Worldpanel showed Morrisons was the only one of the big four retailers to enjoy sales growth, while the sector as a whole saw sales increase by just 0.2%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “A committed core of loyal Morrisons consumers is responding positively to recent initiatives and business has been boosted by online sales. Morrisons’ performance is an improvement on what was a difficult May 2014, so this is only the first step in any future recovery.”
West Yorkshire rival Asda had a tough period with sales down 2.4%, as with lower prices charged at the till were not sufficiently offset by increased footfall. Sainsbury’s sales fell by 0.3% while Tesco saw a 1.3% drop.
The discount supermarkets continue to claim market share, with Aldi’s sales up 15.7% to give it a 5.4% share, and Lidl up 8.8% to claim 3.9% of the market.
