Prices cuts aid Potts’ revival of Morrisons
Cutting prices and beefing up own brands helped supermarket Morrisons to post its sixth straight quarter of sales growth today.
The grocer said sales in stores open for more than a year rose 3.4% in the 13 weeks to April.
Chief executive David Potts credited new and expanded ranges, such as “Free From”, food to go and clothing brand Nutmeg, for the performance, which beat analysts’ forecasts of a 1.8% rise.
Potts also flagged higher inflation because the pound’s post-Brexit fall raised the cost of imports, but he added that the supermarket had cut prices on the products its customers most wanted to buy.
The level of inflation at Morrisons was “significantly less” than the market, finance chief Trevor Strain said. Prices rose 2.6% in the past 12 weeks, according to the latest data from research from Kantar Worldpanel.
Morrisons also benefited from events such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. It sold 40,000 cooked lamb shanks over Easter and about 200,000 oysters around Valentine’s Day.
Sales at its wholesale business, which includes its deal to sell products through Amazon, edged up 0.4%.
