Record number of customers for Morrisons
A DAY after losing its chief executive to Marks & Spencer, Morrisons has revealed that it has attracted a record number of customers through its doors.
Shrugging off the news that Marc Bolland is to depart to join the high street giant in January, the Yorkshire-based supermarket chain said today that it saw a 9.1% leap in total sales excluding fuel in the 13 weeks to November 1.
It said it “welcomed a record 10.8m customers on average through its doors each week during this period, up by over 1.6m since we launched our Food Specialist for Everyone strategy two years ago”.
Like for like sales over the period were up by 4.3%.
Mr Bolland, who will stay on to lead the Bradford group through the crucial Christmas trading period, before his departure after three years at the helm, said: “Morrisons continues to grow ahead of the market driven by our award winning combination of outstanding quality, fresh food and great value. I am pleased that more and more customers are attracted to Morrisons, as we continue our journey from national to nationwide.”
Morrisons’ shares, which dropped 4.9% yesterday on the news of Mr Bolland’s departure, opened down 2.5p this morning.
Morrisons, Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket chain, has opened 37 new stores this year.
It said that commodity prices were lower during the third quarter, “resulting in lower retail price inflation and market growth”.
“In this environment we continue to deliver great value and quality to our customers whilst focusing on managing our cost base and generating profitable growth.
“Performance in the third quarter has been good and we have confidence in the strength of our unique proposition. Our expectations for the current year remain unchanged,” it added in a statement.
