Supermarket chain Morrisons has said its sales have grown at the fastest rate for three years as it aims to move on from a difficult period.
The Bradford-based company revealed stronger trade with like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, rising by 4.6% over the three months to January 28. It compared with 0.1% over the same quarter a year earlier, and 3.3% in the previous quarter.
Total sales were up 3.9% to £3.9bn for the period. The rise in sales has come amid a period of increases in food and drink prices although food inflation has slowed in recent months.
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Rami Baitieh, who took over at the private equity-owned retailer in September, said its “next chapter” is in “full swing”. The update comes just a few weeks after Companies House filings showed Morrisons made a loss of more than £1 billion in the year to October last year.
Last month, the group became the latest supermarket to try to win back customers from Aldi and Lidl as it announced it would match the prices of some of their products. Morrisons, which was bought by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2022 for £7bn, is the fifth-largest supermarket chain in the UK, after being overtaken by Aldi two years ago.
Mr Baitieh said: “In January I outlined our plan to reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen Morrisons as we started our next chapter. Those plans are now in full swing with the whole business engaged in the three key pillars of work that will be the foundation of the future for Morrisons: commercial excellence, operations optimisation and new value creation.
“I have been so impressed with the way all our colleagues are embracing the start of our next chapter and I want to thank every one of them for the important part that they are playing in shaping our future. There is a real sense of optimism and renewal running through the whole company as we return to a growth path.”
Mr Baitieh, who previously had a senior role at the French supermarket group Carrefour, had previously said that Morrisons was developing plans to “reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen” the brand.
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