Morrisons recorded 'steady progress' in 2023 as it invested in customer service

Group revenue for the year, excluding fuel, was up 2.7 per cent to £14.9bn and group LFL (like for like) sales, excluding fuel, were up 3.3 per cent for Q4 (the fourth quarter) and 1.8 per cent for the year, representing six consecutive quarters of LFL improvement.

Retail sales, which includes supermarkets, online and convenience from Q3 (the third quarter) onwards, contributed 2.9 per cent in the quarter.

The statement added: “Within that, online grew 1.6 per cent and convenience, which includes McColl’s, grew by 9 per cent.

"Wholesale contributed a further 0.4 per cent with double-digit wholesale LFL growth maintained throughout the year.

Net new space was a small negative in the quarter, following the closure of four stores, Morrisons said. This was partially offset by new stores at Bath Southgate, Chelmsford, Newcastle Great Park and a replacement store at Brentford.

Underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) was £970m, up by 6.5 per cent from £911m last year.

Morrisons hired former Carrefour director Rami Baitieh as its new chief executive officer late last year. He replaced David Potts who stepped down as boss of the supermarket chain after nine years.

Mr Baitiéh 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.”

He added: “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.

“I would like to thank our exceptional colleagues for their hard work throughout the year and especially over the critical Christmas period. I’m confident that Morrisons has the people, the talent, the assets and the desire to chart a bright future in UK grocery by giving customers more and more reasons to shop at Morrisons.”

Jo Goff, the 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 £100m in Q4, taking the total for the year to £300m, more than half the £500m multi-year target and ahead of our expectations.”