Morrisons announces soaring sales

The retailer said that sales, excluding fuel, at its shops open for more than a year jumped 8.2 per cent in the first 13 weeks of 2009. Analysts had expected 7.5 per cent growth at best.

Total sales, including new stores, performed even better, leaping 9.2 per cent in the period. Including fuel, same-store sales rose by five per cent, while total sales were up 5.7 per cent.

Morrisons has been the beneficiary of the move by shoppers to cheaper retailers and branded the industry-beating numbers a "particularly good result".

In the first quarter, it opened two new branches and cut the price of 8,000 items on the way to growing sales at a faster pace than supermarket giants Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda.

Chief executive Marc Bolland underlined the good news, saying "Our broadening customer appeal saw us welcome half a million more new customers each week to our stores during the first quarter."

In spite of the bumper numbers, the company kept its full-year forecasts unchanged. However the 38 stores that it acquired from Co-Operative Group last December are likely to contribute later in the year and it also plans 350,000 square feet of new trading space.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Andrew Kasoulis, analyst at broker Credit Suisse, on

Bloomberg.com: "Morrisons is very well-placed. It will cope well with the various current trading headwinds and will sustain superior sales and margin momentum."