Morrisons returned to profit in 2024 as it placed a "significant focus" on improving availability and value.
According to a recently filed Companies House report for the 52 weeks to 27 October 2024, Morrisons saw pre-tax profit jump to £2.1bn, up from a pre-tax loss of £919m in the 2022/23 financial year.
The grocer, which was bought by US private equity investor Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in 2021, said the profit growth was driven by volume as it improved its retail offering with “sharper prices, increased availability and an improved range”.
During the period, Morrisons placed "unobtrusive static cameras" on to its fixtures which, powered by AI, automatically monitor the availability of the products on the shelves of the opposite fixture. This alerts colleagues to check for additional stock and if possible, replenish within an hour.
In improving value for money, the retailer increased its discounter price match to over 500 products. It also scaled More Card Prices to more than 2,500 products and introduced the loyalty scheme into its convenience and Amazon channels for the first time.
As a result, sales linked to More Card increased by 12% in the year and improved further after the end of the financial period to its “highest level ever”, with 76% of supermarket sales now through the loyalty scheme.
However, total sales dipped to £17m in 2024, down from £18.3m in the year prior. Morrisons attributed this to the disposal of its petrol forecourts business: it sold all 337 sites to Motor Fuel Group for £2.5bn last year.
Sales did, however, see particular momentum in its convenience stores, which grew like-for-like by 8.9%, and its franchise and wholesale business, with like-for-like growth of 29.8%.
Morrisons has continued to accelerate its plans in the convenience market and reached the end of its McColl’s conversion programme during the year, with all stores now trading as Morrisons Daily. It continues to see strong one and two-year sales trends post conversion through its company-owned, company-operated model.
The supermarket's positive performance comes despite Lidl having overtaken Morrisons to become the UK’s fifth-biggest supermarket in terms of food and drink sales last week.
Lidl’s food and drink market share – including sales of fresh, chilled and ambient groceries but not alcohol, household, toiletries or healthcare – was 7.7% in the 52 weeks to 13 July 2025, compared with Morrisons’ 7.6%, according to unpublished Worldpanel data seen by The Grocer.
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