CE's departure will not slow Morrisons' success

Nov 20 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

SUPERMARKET chain Morrisons has vowed not to let the shock departure of its chief executive blow the firm off course as it revealed quarterly sales growth in the face of a slowdown in food price rises.

The retailer said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, were up 4.3% in the 13 weeks to November 1, compared to 7.8% growth in the first half, having already warned that easing food inflation would result in a slowdown.

Group finance director Richard Pennycook said the announcement that chief executive Marc Bolland was to leave for rival Marks & Spencer was “very new news“ for the retailer.

He said Mr Bolland’s tenure had been a productive one for the company and described working with him as “delightful“. “We think we have had a pretty good run and there’s more to come,” he said.

“He has been a great member of the team and we are sorry to see him go. But it is a team here and we won’t miss a beat over Christmas.”

Total sales – excluding fuel and VAT – were up 9.1% in the quarter.

Mr Bolland said: “Morrisons continues to grow ahead of the market driven by our award-winning combination of outstanding quality, fresh food and great value.”

Recent industry data from research group TNS Worldpanel suggested Morrisons grew faster than other names in the industry in the 12 weeks to November 1. The supermarket’s 8.5% till roll growth in the period compared to a 4.7% increase for Tesco and 6.6% for Asda.

In terms of market share, Morrisons was in fourth place, with 11.7%, compared to Tesco’s 30.7%, Asda at 17.3% and Sainsbury’s at 15.9%.