Morrisons: blowing away the competition? |
| Retail Spotlight | |
| Thursday, 04 December 2008 | |
 When Morrisons chief exec Marc Bolland sits down for his customary fish and chips in the Bradford-based retailer's staff canteen tomorrow lunchtime, he'll no doubt be feeling quietly pleased with himself.Today's announcement of like-for-like growth of just over 8% for the third quarter of this year looks like a triumph for the Dutchman - particularly in comparison with Tesco's 2% growth over the same period. The figure of 700,000 new shoppers coming through its doors each week is also a poke in the eye for Tesco's Terry Leahy, who on Tuesday was boasting of 300,000 newcomers a week. The results were ahead of analysts' predictions of around 7% and compare favourably with the 6.9% growth recently posted by Asda, and Sainsbury's 4.3% uplift. All in all, they show just how well Morrisons has performed in recent months and cement its position as the supermarket to watch. Yet Bolland was careful to play down this quarter's achievements, describing Morrisons' performance merely as "solid". Nor was there any word on profit margins (which have presumably been eroded in the current value-oriented climate), and Morrisons will be facing tougher comparisons in Q4. Tesco, with its market share of around 31% against Morrisons 11.4%, is unlikely to be quaking in its boots just yet, but it's probably having a shifty look over its shoulder. Perhaps Bolland, who started his career in the Congo working for Heineken, really can refresh the parts other supermarket CEOs can't. by David Shrimpton Managing editor TalkingRetail.com
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