Thursday, March 10, 2011

Supermarket chain Morrisons predicts tough 2011

Supermarket chain Morrisons predicts tough 2011 : Supermarket chain Morrisons (MRW) said 2010 was a record year, but that it expected the economic backdrop to remain challenging in 2011 as it looked to expand its online offering.

The FTSE 100-listed company posted pre-tax profit of £874 million for the year ended 31 January, compared to £858 million a year earlier. Last year’s profit also included an exceptional credit of £91 million.

Turnover was for the period was up 7% at £16.5 billion from £15.4 billion in 2009, with record numbers of customers in store.

The firm said it had opened 15 new stores and agreed to acquire 16 Netto stores.

Sir Ian Gibson, non-executive chairman, said: "This has been another good year for Morrisons. In a difficult consumer environment, increasing numbers of customers have recognised the great value and quality of our offer and we have again delivered record profits.

"We have ambitious plans to take Morrisons unique offer to more customers through our accelerating new store programme and through the development of new channels."

The company said convenience stores and e-commerce, as the two fastest growing sectors of the market, would be the focus of its future strategy. In its interim results in September it said it would undertake research into an e-commerce channel and is now convinced that Morrisons should be trading online. The firm said it is committed to launching Morrisons.com for both grocery and non-food products within the next two years.

As part of its entry into e-commerce, Morrisons announced it had invested £32 million in FreshDirect and acquired kiddicare.com for £70 million.
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