15th Sep 2016 06:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC on Thursday reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, and although revenue slipped slightly, like-for-like sales grew as it attempts to attract more customers back to its stores.
The supermarket chain said pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended July 31 grew to GBP143 million from GBP126 million in the same period the year before, although revenue slipped very slightly to GBP8.03 billion from GBP8.06 billion.
Profit was helped by a decrease in administrative expenses, while the small slip in revenue was due to the closure of of some underperforming stores as part of its store disposal programme.
Like-for-like sales, however, rose by 1.4% year-on-year, which Morrisons said was driven by strong volume growth and increased transactions. The second quarter saw its third consecutive positive quarter, with like-for-likes rising by 2%.
Morrisons will pay an interim dividend of 1.58 pence, up from 1.50p the year before.
"It is too early to know how the recent referendum result could affect the British economy, but customers tell us their food shopping has not changed. We have seen no negative impact on customer sentiment or customer behaviour. There are some uncertainties, especially around the impact on imported food prices if sterling stays at its current lower level. However, our priorities are unchanged, and we will continue to invest in becoming more competitive and improving the shopping trip for customers," Morrisons said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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