Morrisons toasts jump in sales and hikes savings target to £1bn
The company said earlier this week that hundreds of people were at risk of being laid off, as sales rose to £4 billion in the most recent quarter.
Morrisons has reported that sales jumped to £4 billion in its most recent quarter, days after the supermarket said hundreds of people are facing redundancy.
The grocery giant said sales were 2.4% up over the quarter to January 26 compared to the previous year, while it also hiked its savings targets.
The company said it had made £56 million in savings during the period and increased its long-term savings goal from £700 million to £1 billion.
Chief executive Rami Baitieh said Morrisons was trading in “a challenging environment” and that the savings target would “help us offset cost headwinds, invest for customers and remain competitive in a fast-changing market”.
The supermarket chain said it was costing more to run the services than it was making from customer spending.
The closures will see it shut down 52 cafes, all 18 market kitchens, 17 Morrisons Daily convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies.
Morrisons is the UK’s fifth largest supermarket, according to data supplied by analysts Kantar, and hires around 95,000 staff across the country.
Mr Baitieh added that the supermarket “has made exceptional progress in a very short time and that is entirely down to the hard work, positivity, talent and customer focus of the colleagues in our stores, in our food-making sites and in our operations across the country”.
The rising sales came despite a wide-ranging cyber attack before Christmas which was affecting the availability of products in its stores well into January.
The company was unable to see its product availability and stock levels for four days after a cyber incident hit its technology supplier, Blue Yonder.
