Debt slashed and rising sales in ‘solid quarter’ for Morrisons

Bradford-headquartered supermarket chain, Morrisons, has hailed an increase in sales as it publishes a trading update for quarter two, covering 29 January to 28 April 2024.

Group like-for-like (LFL) sales excluding fuel and VAT were up 4.1% (2022/23: up 1%), while total sales excluding fuel amounted to £3.8bn – up by 3.7%.

Underlying EBITDA for half one, excluding the chain’s fuel business, was up 16% to £321m.

The £2.5bn sale of Morrisons’ petrol filling station business to MFG was completed, while 38 convenience stores were acquired in the Channel Islands from SandpiperCI.

The business also confirmed the successful conclusion of its debt reduction tender, with group debt now reduced by 35% to £4bn from a peak of around £6.2bn.

Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons chief executive officer, said: “I am pleased with the overall performance of the business in the second quarter with supermarkets, convenience, wholesale and online all delivering growth and contributing to a 4.1% increase in like-for-like sales.

“It’s clear availability and our loyalty scheme are the two areas our customers talk about the most and so we are focusing intensively on these areas.

“With the McColl’s conversion programme now complete and the recent acquisition of 38 stores in the Channel Islands, we have over 1,600 Morrisons Daily convenience stores across the country, about two thirds of which are wholly owned. We are now targeting a total of 2,000 convenience stores in 2025.”

Jo Goff, chief financial officer, added: “This has been another solid quarter of progress with sales and volume improvements right across the business.

“Our debt has now reduced by over a third and we made further progress on our cost savings programme with £78m delivered in the quarter, taking the total since the start of this year to just over £450m, in line with our £700m three year target.”

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