Morrisons climbs as profits bounce back

The price of shares in FTSE 100 supermarket chain Morrisons (LON:MRW) climbed 3.62% to 201.03p (as of 12:30 BST) after it reported a 48.5% increase in statutory pre-tax profits for the six months ended 4th August. Total revenues for the period were up by 0.4% and management said that the company was on track to meet its £1 billion full-year wholesale sales target.

CEO David Potts commented: “We stayed focussed on our Fix, Rebuild and Grow strategy, and were pleased to maintain the momentum of the turnaround against strong comparatives last year. Sales and profit progress was robust, and we again invested in improving our competitiveness for customers.

“News today of new wholesale initiatives, including a further extension of our partnership with Amazon, and of another special dividend, again show how new Morrisons continues to become broader and stronger for all stakeholders, and how progress can be meaningful and sustainable even in more testing trading conditions. Such progress is only made possible by Morrisons exceptional team of food makers and shopkeepers“.