Profit dip expected for Morrisons

YORKSHIRE-based supermarket group Morrisons is expected to post an 8% drop in profits to £410m for the half year to August on total revenues of £9bn.

On Thursday, chief executive Dalton Philips will update the market on the Bradford-based group’s performance, its roll out of a string of smaller convenience stores and the recent £170m tie-up with internet sales specialist Ocado which will see Morrisons launch into online food and home deliveries early next year.

The grocer’s sales at stores which have been open for at least a year dropped by 1.8% in its first quarter but JP Morgan Cazenove has forecast a decline of 0.2% in the second quarter, The Independent reported.

Morrisons has recently undergone an £300m infrastructure upgrade.