5th Nov 2015 07:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC Thursday said sales fell in the third quarter of its financial year as Morrisons continued to invest in price cuts amid a deflationary UK grocery market.
The FTSE 100-listed food-store chain said total sales excluding fuel were down 2% in the 13 weeks to November 1, on the same period the year before, or down 4.6% including fuel. Like-for-like sales declined 2.6% excluding fuel, and 5.1% including fuel.
Despite this, Morrisons said that there was good progress during the quarter against many aspects of its plan, and that it is continuing to invest in lower prices.
It added that the financial position of the group is "strong and improving", with net debt standing at GBP2.1 billion at the end of the third quarter. It now expects net debt for the full year to be lower than the previous guidance of GBP1.9 billion to GBP2.1 billion.
Morrisons reaffirmed that underlying pretax profit will be higher in the second half of the year than in the first.
"The business is moving at pace on the long journey towards improving the shopping trip for customers. Our priorities for the rest of the year are unchanged - to stabilise trading, reduce costs and further improve the capability of the leadership team. We are making good progress in many areas and customers are noticing improvements," Chief Executive David Potts said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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