Morrisons in royal boost
PROMOTIONS and a surge in spending on bunting and picnics for the royal wedding helped Morrisons beat quarterly sales forecasts yesterday.
But Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket chain said it was wary of the tough road ahead as customer spending come under more pressure.
Sales at stores open over a year rose 2.5 per cent, excluding petrol and VAT sales tax, in the 13 weeks to 1 May. Chief executive Dalton Philips said: “A late Easter, having a royal wedding and good weather were three nice tailwinds.”
Sales were boosted by promotions, such as Morrisons’ “Fuel Britannia” campaign that offered customers 6p off the price of a litre of petrol if they spent £40 in the store. It sold over 100 miles of bunting in the run up to the royal wedding, including that used to decorate the party outside the residence of the Prime Minister in Downing Street.