Morrisons soaring by 19 per cent as shoppers seek lower prices

Chief executive Marc Bolland today said customer numbers rose 4.7% to about 10million a week in the first half of the year as shoppers feeling the pinch hunted down deals.

Extra customers, and higher food prices, sent like-for-like sales excluding fuel up 7.6% in the 26 weeks to 3 August.

It was comfortably ahead of recent figures from rivals such as Tesco and Sainsbury and helped drive underlying profits up 18.5% to £295million.

David Buik of BGC Partners said the sales figures were "staggering" but shares fell 2-½p to 267-¾p.

Morrisons and Asda — as well as discounters such as Aldi and Lidl — have been the main beneficiaries so far as shoppers are squeezed by rising bills.

Bolland described the current trading climate as the toughest for many years. "To have grown like-for-like sales by 7.6% in this economic climate is clear testament to the strength of the Morrisons recovery," he said.

"More shoppers are choosing Morrisons because of our price-crunching deals and our unrivalled fresh offer in store."

Bolland, the ex-Heineken executive now running the 376-strong supermarket chain, has led a drive towards fresh produce as the firm recovers from the botched takeover and integration of Safeway.

The focus on value has certainly paid off in London — Morrisons has 22 stores within the M25 following the takeover of Safeway — where sales growth is in double digits.

"What we are seeing in London is a very strong focus on value and we are seen as a value player," said finance director Richard Pennycock, who has led the turnaround of Morrisons with Bolland.

He added: "One of the things we are pleased about is that we are taking a bit of trade from pretty much everybody. We are picking up from across the board by concentrating on fresh food which is healthy and good value."

Pennycock described this year's wheat harvest in the UK as "a tragedy" with rain and floods trashing crops, but said there were signs inflationary pressures were easing as overseas harvests fared better than in previous years.

Bolland said Morrisons faced a tough Christmas as the economy deteriorates and the supermarket wars intensify.

"We fully expect the second half to be highly competitive as disposable incomes come under further pressure," he said.

"The first-half profit gives us confidence that we will deliver our profit expectations for the year."

Fuel sales rose 31.6% in the first half on the back of record oil prices. Morrisons proposed an 18.5% increased in the dividend to 0.8p a share.