Morrisons has updated investors on trading for the second quarter – the 13 weeks ending 30th April 2023 – reporting continued sales momentum, positive like-for-like sales and improving competitiveness. 

David Potts, Morrisons chief executive officer, said: “The momentum we reported in the first quarter has continued with further progress in our like-for-like sales and in our price competitiveness. We also saw significant improvements in the key measures of customer satisfaction, availability and value for money.”

Key points

• Group like-for-like (LFL) sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT were up 1.0% (2021/22: down by 6.4%)
• Total sales ex-fuel were £3.7 billion, up by 3.1%
• Group revenue was down by 0.9% to £4.5 billion reflecting lower fuel sales year on year
• Wholesale channels were reported to be growing strongly with sales up by 20%
• A further 107 Morrisons Daily convenience stores were added during the quarter, taking the total to almost 650
• The Morrisons More Card – its new loyalty scheme – was launched in May 2023
• Morrisons reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first half of the year (H1) were down by 10.7% to £394 million reflecting sustained investment in price and continuing significant inflationary headwinds

Potts continued: “Inflation remains disappointingly and stubbornly high which means that customers are still very much on a budget. But our customers still wanted to celebrate important events and this quarter included Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, Easter, Eid and the build up to the Coronation weekend. These events are an area of traditional strength for Morrisons, where we can leverage our unique food making and flower operations to help customers celebrate with good quality and great value. 

“Through the quarter we continued with our programme of large scale price cutting campaigns, complemented by quick, tactical price cuts in areas where we can see the early signs of inflation easing. 

“Convenience continues to be a strong area of focus and growth for the business. We now have almost 650 Morrisons Daily stores – around 400 of which are former McColl’s – and converted stores continue to see a significant sales uplift as we work through the McColl’s estate. By the year end we expect to have almost 1,000 Morrisons Daily stores trading and a significantly enhanced position in the important UK convenience sector.”

Customer loyalty

Returning customers and retention of existing ones remains a strong theme for all the major retailers as Potts reiterated: “The launch of our new loyalty programme – now called the More Card – was an important moment for the business, bringing back the much-loved Morrisons Fivers in a points-based scheme, together with a rolling programme of eye-catching deals that are exclusive to More Card customers. The new scheme is a significantly more competitive and compelling loyalty programme and the early feedback from customers has been excellent with a substantial increase in active participants.  

“We are making very good progress on both our £700 million three-year cost reduction programme and our plans to deliver £500 million of working capital improvements over the medium term. I am pleased to be confirming our guidance for full year underlying EBITDA to be up and for debt to be down.”