Morrisons Reveals Record Profits For 2009

Wed, 17 Mar 2010

 
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Morrisons has reported its profits for 2009 rose by an impressive 30 per cent as more customers than ever carried their weekly grocery shopping at its stores.

The UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain said pre-tax profits jumped from £655m in 2008 to £858m last year, with annual underlying profits up 21 per cent to £767m.

Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, rose 6 per cent to £15.4bn, driven by a seven per cent hike in weekly customer numbers, based on average weekly till transactions.

Morrisons opened 43 new stores in 2009 as it pressed ahead with its plan to move from being a national presence to a "truly nationwide retailer". The store openings created 10,000 new jobs and increased the grocery chain’s store estate to 425 supermarkets .

Chairman Sir Ian Gibson said: "Morrisons had another good year. Once again our focus on fresh food and great value appealed to shoppers everywhere, and we have successfully grown sales and profits to record levels. The opening of 43 new stores in the year accelerated our journey from National to Nationwide."

He added: "We expect the economic environment to remain challenging, disposable incomes to be under pressure and value to remain a high priority for consumers."

"The board believes that Morrisons unique offer of high quality, fresh food at great value prices will continue to attract customers from our competitors and drive market share growth in the year ahead."

Morrisons also announced that Dalton Philips will take up his role as the company’s new chief executive on March 29th, replacing former CEO Marc Bolland who left the company in December to become the new chief of Marks and Spencer .