PLANS to “reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen” Morrisons are well underway, the Bradford-based supermarket chain’s CEO has said.
Morrisons said sales have grown at the fastest rate for three years amid efforts from its new boss to revitalise the supermarket chain.
The update comes weeks after Companies House filings showed Morrisons made a loss of more than £1 billion in the year to October last year.
But the company appears to be in a stronger trading position, as Rami Baitieh leads the firm’s bid to recover more market share by competing with German discount rivals Aldi and Lidl on price.
Morrisons said that group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, rose 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 £3.9 billion for the period.
The rise in sales comes amid a period of increases in food and drink prices although food inflation has slowed in recent months.
Mr Baitieh, who took over at the private equity-owned retailer in September, said its “next chapter” is in “full swing”.
In January, the former Carrefour boss said Morrisons was developing plans to “reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen” the brand.
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 £7 billion, is the fifth-largest supermarket chain in the UK, after being overtaken by Aldi two years ago.
Mr Baitieh, who moved from Paris to Bradford for his role, 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.”
