Supermarket chain Morrisons has revealed that it put in a strong performance over recent months, with sales growing ahead of the wider market in spite of economic uncertainty.
In its latest interim management statement, the Bradford-based retailer - which has 450 stores across the UK - confirmed that like-for-like sales rose by 2.4 per cent during the 13 weeks ending on October 30. Total sales excluding fuel, meanwhile, were up by 4.6 per cent.
“As we anticipated at our interim results announcement in September, the economic environment has remained challenging during the third quarter,” the company stated. “Our good performance in the third quarter was in line with our expectations and the board’s financial outlook for the year remains unchanged.”
Morrisons noted that it had benefited from longer trading hours and the opening of new stores in the south of England. Although the company admitted it remained “cautious” about the outlook for consumer spending over the next few months, it insisted it was in a “strong” financial position.
The results came after Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King told reporters the group was aiming to break Tesco’s stranglehold on areas where there is no effective competition.
