orrisons has become the latest retailer to announce a drop in sales due to the ongoing cost of living crisis gripping the UK.
The UK’s fourth largest supermarket by market share released an update on its second quarter of trading indicating that similar sales for the 13 weeks ended 1 May fell by 6.4% compared to the same period last year due to “constant inflationary pressures and increasingly subdued consumer sentiment”.
However, Morrisons said sales improved towards the end of the quarter, aided by a strong performance over Mother’s Day and the Easter celebrations.
The company. that the New York private equity giant Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) bought out last year, said that its revenue increased by 2.6% to £ 4.59 billion over the quarter, mainly due to the increase in fuel sales that 54% increased.
David Potts, CEO of Morrisons, said: “In a very fragile and difficult consumer environment, Morrisons continued to deliver a resilient performance.
“This quarter dealt with a period of significant Covid restrictions last year when travel and hospitality were both severely restricted. As these two activities returned to more normal patterns this year, we saw very strong growth in fuel sales, but a step back in groceries.
“I want to thank Morrisons colleagues for their dedication and hard work in helping the business rise again to meet the new challenges of the cost-of-living crisis.”
In April, Morrisons launched one of its largest price-reduction campaigns ever, involving more than 500 products and lowering the price of more than a quarter of entry-level products to help customers impact the significantly increased household and cost of living.
On May 9, Morrisons acquired the entire McColl’s convenience store business from the administrators, consisting of 1,160 stores, including 270 Morrisons Daily brands.