British supermarket chain Morrisons reported an improvement in its underlying sales growth during the fourth quarter, attributing the gains to better product availability, competitive pricing,
stronger promotions, and an expanding loyalty program.
The retailer, ranked as the UK’s fifth-largest grocer, has been under the ownership of U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice since 2021. On Wednesday, Morrisons announced a 4.9% increase in like-for-like sales for the quarter ending October 27, up from a 2.9% rise in the previous quarter. The company described this as its strongest quarterly performance since early 2021.
However, the update did not include sales figures from the crucial Christmas shopping period.
Despite the improvement in quarterly growth, recent industry data suggests Morrisons trailed behind major competitors during the holiday season. According to market research firm Kantar, Morrisons’ sales grew by just 0.4% in the 12 weeks leading up to December 29. The supermarket ended 2024 with an 8.6% share of the UK grocery market, reflecting a 20-basis-point decline compared to the previous year.
The figures indicate that Morrisons struggled to match the sales momentum of rivals such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and discount chains Aldi and Lidl during the festive period. Photo by Rept0n1x, Wikimedia commons.