Supermarket chain Morrisons has revealed impressive sales figures over the busy Christmas period, with more than four million extra customers shopping at its nationwide stores .
The Bradford -based grocer saw a 9.5 per cent rise in like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, in the six weeks to January 6, beating analysts’ expectations and becoming the clear supermarket winner over the festive period.
The UK’s fourth largest supermarket group enjoyed record trading across its 375 stores and, buoyed by a price-cutting drive and a successful advertising campaign fronted by singer Lulu and football pundit Alan Hansen.
Last week, Tesco reported underlying UK sales growth of 3.1 per cent, which was slightly lower than the 3.7 per cent rise in sales announced by Sainsbury ‘s a week earlier.
The supermarket’s chief executive Marc Bolland said he was “delighted” by the results, which has seen the grocery firm steal ground on its rivals and increase its share value on early trading .
“We welcomed significantly more customers to our stores, and they were well served with attractive offers and great fresh food,” he said.
“These strong results are further evidence that our rigorous focus on freshness, service and value is striking a chord with shoppers.”
Bolland has been heading the turnaround of the supermarket chain, which has struggled since its acquisition of Safeway in 2004, but now holds an 11.4 per cent largest market share -up from 11 per cent in December – according to monthly research from TNS Worldpanel.
In addition to its high-profile advertising campaign and an ongoing £450 million store revamp, Morrisons has emphasised its British pork and lamb and the company’s commitment to sell fresh fish .
Bolland added the group “had built momentum steadily” throughout 2007, with profits ahead of forecasts, and remains confident the group’s focus on cheap, fresh food will succeed.
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