Morrisons has announced that its group like-for-like sales increased by 2.2% in the 13 weeks ending April 26, marking the fourteenth consecutive quarter of growth. The supermarket chain reported total sales rising by 1.7% to £4 billion.
Fresh Food Deals Drive Seasonal Success
Morrisons attributed its strong performance to fresh food deals that boosted sales during key seasonal events such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Easter. The retailer also saw further momentum in its online operations, with Morrisons Now delivering double-digit sales growth during the quarter.
Cost Savings Programme Progress
The grocer achieved an additional £48 million in cost savings during the quarter, bringing the total since the start of the programme to £942 million, edging closer to its £1 billion target.
Loyalty Scheme Gains Traction
Morrisons' More Card loyalty scheme continued to grow, with active users reaching 8 million. The retailer highlighted that more personalised offers contributed to record redemption rates.
Expansion of Morrisons Daily Stores
The company opened 30 new Morrisons Daily franchise stores in the quarter, with plans to open hundreds more in the coming years.
Upcoming Events and Strategy
Morrisons is now planning to capitalise on the World Cup and Father's Day to drive further sales.
Chief Executive Rami Baitiéh commented: "We continued to make good progress against our priorities in Q2. In a highly competitive market, we're focusing hard on delivering the best value for customers to give them more reasons to shop at Morrisons."
He added: "Against the challenging backdrop, I'm pleased with the performance we have delivered in Q2, a fourteenth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth, underlying EBITDA up, strong improvements in customer experience in our supermarkets, cafés and online with significant increases in net promoter score, good further progress with our cost saving programme and market share on an improving trend."
Baitiéh also noted: "While more recent international news creates some grounds for optimism, we continue to monitor the impact of input inflation very closely and we remain committed to doing whatever we can to help keep prices down for customers."
