// Morrisons full-year profits and sales drop but expects adjusted EBITDA to come in at the top end of guidance
// The grocer reported a 15% drop in full-year profits to £828m for the 52 weeks ending October 30, 2022
Morrisons has recorded a drop in full-year profits and sales but expects adjusted EBITDA to come in at the top end of guidance in the third quarter.
The grocer reported a 15% drop in full-year profits to £828m for the 52 weeks ending October 30, 2022.
Total revenues, including fuel, increased 2.2% to £18.4bn while like-for-like sales excluding fuel were down 4.2%.
Meanwhile, group like-for-like sales were up 2.5% over the Christmas period, excluding fuel.
“With continued high food inflation, rising interest rates, an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine set to enter its second year, there is a continuing sense of uncertainty in consumer sentiment,” Morrisons said.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
In the coming 2022/23 financial year, Morrisons said it is confident that its improved trading momentum and various cost-saving programmes “will more than offset these and expect EBITDA to be up year on year”.
It has also identified “several working capital opportunities and is now planning for an improvement of at least £500m in the medium term”.
Morrisons chief executive, David Potts said: “In a very difficult period for consumers and businesses alike, we are continuing to do everything we can to keep prices down for customers and to support our colleagues.
“As a vertically integrated retailer, we felt the impacts of last year’s racing inflation more immediately than our competitors and this did have an impact on our pricing position.
“However, since October, we have executed a rolling programme of meaningful price cuts, price freezes and fuel promotions for our customers and our competitive position has considerably sharpened.
“Our Christmas trading continued the positive momentum of the last two quarters with a 2.5% increase in sales against last year, as we pulled out all the stops to help our customers celebrate with style and great quality, despite the economic uncertainty.
“Looking ahead, this current year has many opportunities. We have clear plans in place to continue to invest in price and in hours in our stores; to open new supermarkets and further refresh the core estate; to invest in McColl’s and accelerate the conversion programme; to develop further the fast-growing My Morrisons app and to grow volumes through our unique food-making operations around the country.”
