Morrisons has revealed the acquisition of struggling chain McColl’s helped it deliver a “leading position” in the convenience market.

In its latest financial results, for the 52 weeks to October 2022, published this week, the supermarket said it intends to continue investing in McColl’s and “accelerate the conversion programme”.

Overall, it reported a 2.2% increase in total revenue to £18.4bn, while like for like sales, excluding fuel dropped 4.2%; a sequential improvement over the last two quarters.

However, Christmas trading continued the positive momentum of the last two quarters, with a 2.5% increase in sales against last year.

Morrisons blames cost-of-living crisis for fall in sales

Chief executive David Potts recognised it had been a “very difficult period for consumers and businesses alike”, but that it was “continuing to do everything” it “can to keep prices down for customers and to support” colleagues.

“As a vertically integrated retailer, we felt the impacts of last year’s racing inflation more immediately than our competitors and this did have an impact on our pricing position. However, since October we have executed a rolling programme of meaningful price cuts, price freezes and fuel promotions for our customers and our competitive position has considerably sharpened.”

Potts added that the firm intends to continue to invest in price going forward, and open new supermarkets and further refresh its core estate.

“Together I’m confident that these moves will enable us to make further significant progress in developing Morrisons into a broader, stronger, more accessible and more popular business,” he said.

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