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Morrisons moves back into profit Morrisons moves back into profit
(10 minutes later)
Supermarket group Morrisons has moved back into the black, six months after posting its first annual loss.Supermarket group Morrisons has moved back into the black, six months after posting its first annual loss.
Pre-tax profits for the 25 weeks to 23 July came in at £134.2m ($253m), against an £82.1m loss last time.Pre-tax profits for the 25 weeks to 23 July came in at £134.2m ($253m), against an £82.1m loss last time.
The group says it is now seeing the benefits of its 2004 purchase of rival Safeway, the integration of which had pushed it into the red. The Bradford-based group said it was now seeing the benefits of its 2004 Safeway takeover, the integration of which had pushed it into the red.
Morrisons added that in the first eight weeks of the second half like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, were up 5.9%. Excluding fuel, like-for-like sales - which strip out the impact of new stores - rose 4.6% during the period.
The group added that turnover was flat at £5.85bn, but said the performance was "satisfactory" given that 66 stores closed during the period.
Customer numbers were also up 5.3% on a like-for-like basis, while converted stores had put in a "particularly strong performance" in bringing in new shoppers, Morrisons added.
'Strong' performance
Chairman Sir Ken Morrison said the turnaround of the company following the integration of Safeway was ahead of schedule with sales at its 373 stores "stronger than anticipated".
Its three-year Optimisation Plan was now on track to save £50m by cutting back on six million labour hours, while a further £30m should be saved by cutting back on duplicate facilities and improving efficiency.
As part of the turnaround the supermarket brought in new chief executive Marc Bolland at the start of September to replace Bob Stott.
"The group's sales levels are slightly stronger than we had anticipated at the time of preparing the Optimisation Plan, and give us confidence for a stronger second half despite an expectation of a tougher trading environment," Morrisons said.
In the first eight weeks of the second half like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, were up 5.9%.