Morrison rules out any further discount plans
WM MORRISON’S chief executive said yesterday the supermarket would not succumb to offering more vouchers after aggressive discounting by rivals like Tesco hurt its first quarter sales.
Dalton Philips warned that, as economic conditions remained uncertain, squeezed consumers would continue to seek out even more promotions.
But he brushed off concerns that the grocer was losing market share to rivals offering more discounts, saying the firm “wanted to sit back” from this activity “rather than pursue market share gain at any cost”.
“We believe in profitable growth – there are times to be in this market and there are times when to withdraw,” he added.
Sales at stores open over a year fell one per cent excluding fuel in the 13 weeks to 29 April.
Philips attributed the fall – the first in seven years – to tough comparatives with the same quarter of last year when Easter and the royal wedding took place. Excluding these events, sales were flat in the quarter, he said.
Total sales for the period, which take store expansions and openings into account, rose by 1.5 per cent, excluding fuel.
The group also said it had increased the number of products in its M Savers value range by 43 per cent to 500 since it launched at the start of the year and that it is making good progress with the roll-out of its M Local convenience stores, with 300 planned by 2014.