Morrisons quarterly sales drop for first time since 2016

‘Big Four’ grocer Morrisons has reported a 1.9% drop in like-for-like sales in its Q2 results, compared with the 6.3% increase seen the previous year.

For the six months ending 4 August 2019, group like-for-like sales increased by a marginal 0.2%, compared with 4.9% last year, and total revenue grew by 0.4% to £8.83bn. Profit before tax was also up 5.3% to £198m.

The retailer said it is expecting to see like-for-like sales improve during the second half of the year, and also announced the expansion of the Morrisons store on Amazon Prime Now to more cities across the UK, starting in Q3.

Andrew Higginson, chairman, said: “I’m confident that Morrisons is on the right path for continued and sustainable growth. The team are listening and responding to customers, and making the right choices to benefit all stakeholders, including strong dividends for shareholders.”

David Potts, chief executive, added: “We stayed focussed on our Fix, Rebuild and Grow strategy, and were pleased to maintain the momentum of the turnaround against strong comparatives last year. Sales and profit progress was robust, and we again invested in improving our competitiveness for customers.

“News today of new wholesale initiatives, including a further extension of our partnership with Amazon, and of another special dividend, again show how new Morrisons continues to become broader and stronger for all stakeholders, and how progress can be meaningful and sustainable even in more testing trading conditions. Such progress is only made possible by Morrisons exceptional team of food makers and shopkeepers.”