Sales on a roll for Morrisons
Brexit stockpiling boosts chain
SHOPPERS have started stockpiling toilet paper and painkillers ahead of a possible no-deal Brexit, supermarket chain Morrisons said yesterday.
Boss David Potts said it had seen a rise in demand for “cupboard fillers”.
“Whether that has any bearing on how people are feeling about Brexit, I don’t know,” he said.
A recent survey by Kantar Worldpanel found one in 10 shoppers claim to have started stockpiling food.
It came as Morrisons announced its biggest jump in sales for nearly a decade, up 5.1% to £14billion in the year to February.
Profits were up 10% to £406million as a turnaround masterminded by Potts paid off.
The chain also said shopper satisfaction levels had risen sharply in the past four years.
Sales in stores open at least a year slowed in the final three months. But group takings were boosted by its strategy of supplying other retailers.
It notched up £700m worth of wholesale takings, towards a target of £1bn a year. Morrisons already supplies 1,300 McColl’s convenience stores with Safeway branded products, and expects to add another 300 this year.
Ten McColl’s stores will also be rebranded as Morrisons Daily in a trial.
The Daily name is used on around 100 petrol forecourts already.
Two garages have been renamed Safeway, marking the brand’s high street return after it was bought by Morrisons in 2005.
Potts said Morrisons had a more “challenging autumn as consumers were more cautious in more uncertain times”.
But staff received an average bonus worth just over 2% of their salary.
The typical £379 payment has doubled in the past four years, while the total is more than John Lewis’ £44m bonus pot.