Morrisons reports large sales increase

Thursday 4th December 2008, 9:16AM GMT.

Morrisons reports large sales increase Supermarket chain Morrisons reported an 8.1 per cent jump in its third-quarter sales, claiming that over 700,000 new shoppers are visiting its stores every week.

The group said its efforts to keep shopping bills and fuel costs down had been rewarded with shopper choosing Morrisons during the difficult economic times.

Morrisons also announced an agreement to buy 38 former Somerfield and Co-operative Food stores for £223.1 million.

The store said like-for-like sales, including fuel, rose 13.3 per cent for the 13 week period to November 2nd.

The figures show Morrisons is outperforming its major rivals. Earlier this week, Tesco reported a 2 per cent rise in quarterly sales, while Asda’s rose by 6.9 per cent and Sainsbury’s by 4.3 per cent.

In a statement Morrisons admitted the current economic environment was “difficult” and said it would “remain challenging,” but confirmed that its financial expectations for the current year remained unchanged.