Morrisons has reported its 14th consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth, as the supermarket group continued to expand its convenience franchise network and grow online sales amid intense competition in the grocery market.
For the 13 weeks ended 26 April, group like-for-like sales increased 2.2 per cent, while total sales rose 1.7 per cent to £4 billion.
Underlying EBITDA for the first half of the year increased 5.7 per cent to £323 million, supported by continued cost savings and strong performances during key seasonal trading periods including Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Easter.
The retailer said its vertically integrated supply model and value-led fresh food offers helped drive customer demand during the quarter.
Convenience remains a key growth area for the business, with Morrisons opening 30 new Morrisons Daily franchise stores during the quarter. That took the total number of franchise openings in the first half to 52, with the supermarket chain reiterating plans to open hundreds more stores in the coming years.
The company also reported further progress in its online operation, with Morrisons Now delivering double-digit sales growth.
Meanwhile, active users of the More Card loyalty scheme increased to 8 million, with Morrisons saying more personalised offers had helped deliver record redemption rates.
Chief executive Rami Baitiéh said the retailer had continued to make progress despite a challenging trading environment.
“We continued to make good progress against our priorities in Q2. In a highly competitive market, we’re focusing hard on delivering the best value for customers to give them more reasons to shop at Morrisons,” he said.
“Against the challenging backdrop, I’m pleased with the performance we have delivered in Q2; a fourteenth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth; underlying EBITDA up, strong improvements in customer experience in our supermarkets, cafes and online with significant increases in net promoter score; good further progress with our cost saving programme and market share on an improving trend.”
Morrisons also continued to make progress on its efficiency programme, delivering a further £48 million of savings during the quarter. This brings cumulative savings to £942 million since the programme began, putting the retailer within sight of its £1 billion target.
Looking ahead, Baitiéh said the retailer had made an encouraging start to the third quarter and was preparing to capitalise on upcoming seasonal events.
“Trading conditions remain highly competitive. We have made an encouraging start to the third quarter and have strong plans in place to make the most of the World Cup and Father's Day,” he said.
“While more recent international news creates some grounds for optimism, we continue to monitor the impact of input inflation very closely and we remain committed to doing whatever we can to help keep prices down for customers.”