Aldi lead over rival Morrisons widens

MORRISONS has lost further ground to Aldi after another slide in sales.

In just the latest setback for the Bradford-based supermarket chain following its private equity takeover, industry figures from Kantar showed revenues at Morrisons hit £3bn in the 12 weeks to February 19.

That was down 0.9pc on a year earlier and left the company with a 9pc share of the UK grocery market. By contrast, sales at Aldi jumped 26.7pc to £3.2bn, giving it a 9.4pc market share.

A year ago, 9.8pc of spending on groceries was at Morrisons while just 8pc was at Aldi.

But Morrisons was pushed off its spot as the country’s fourth biggest grocer last year by Aldi.

Shoppers have switched from the traditional ‘Big Four’ grocers – once Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – to cheaper Aldi and Lidl stores in their droves amid a cost of living crunch.

Lidl boosted sales by 25.4pc, winning 7.1pc of the market.

Morrisons has struggled after its debt-fuelled £7bn takeover by New York-based private equity giant Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) two years ago. Critics warned the takeover would lead to elevated prices. And an average basket of groceries at the supermarket has soared 18pc in the past year to £75, according to The Grocer magazine.

Supermarkets have raised prices for a basket of shopping by an average of 13.2pc, with Morrisons’s hike more than this.

Tesco – the largest supermarket with 27.3pc of the grocery market – saw sales up by 6.6pc over the 12-week period. Sainsbury’s was up 6.2pc and Asda 5.9pc. Waitrose managed to return to growth, pushing sales by a meagre 0.7pc.