UK retailer Morrisons has released a trading update for Q4 and the full year 2022/2023, detailing trading for the 52 weeks ending 29th October 2023 and reporting increased revenue year-on-year.
The supermarket reported that Group revenue for the year, excluding fuel, was up 2.7% to £14.9 billion and Group like-for-like (LFL) sales, excluding fuel, were up 3.3% for Q4. For the year, LFL sales were up 1.8%, which Morrisons said represented “six consecutive quarters of LFL improvement”.
Retail sales, including supermarkets, online and convenience (from Q3 onwards), reportedly contributed 2.9% in Q4. Online grew 1.6% and convenience (including McColl’s) grew by 9%, while wholesale contributed a further 0.4%.
Morrisons said its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled £970 million, up by 6.5% from £911 million in the previous year. In Q4, this was £306 million, an increase of 8.5% when compared to the previous year.
Looking forward
Rami Baitiéh, chief executive of Morrisons, said: “I have been at Morrisons for only a few months, but it’s already clear that we have an abundance of talented colleagues, well located shops, high class food making operations and a real point of difference with our Market Street butchers, fishmongers, bakers, cheesemongers and deli counters. We’re competitive online, our convenience and wholesale operations are growing fast and I have seen the affection and goodwill that our customers, supplier partners and farmers have for Morrisons.
“Reporting today our sixth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales improvement is very positive. But there is so much more we can do, and together with my colleagues, we are developing plans to reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen Morrisons and to start a new chapter – which begins with our customers.
“Across the business we are listening hard to what our customers are telling us and taking action, and we are just beginning to see our customer satisfaction scores improve. This will be the bedrock of our next chapter.”
Jo Goff, Morrisons CFO, said: “This has been a year of steady progress as we continued to invest in price, customer service, loyalty and made further improvements in our own brand range and in quality.
“We’ve made good progress on our working capital improvement process with a further £100 million in Q4, taking the total for the year to £300 million, more than half the £500 million multi-year target and ahead of our expectations.”
