UK group Morrisons has released its preliminary results for the year ended 1 February 2009, with profit before tax increasing 7 per cent to £655m (€701.9n) and like-for-like sales growth of 7.9 per cent.
Turnover at the retailer jumped 12 per cent to £14.5bn (€15.7bn), up from £13bn (€14.07bn) last year, while the group added some 550,000 extra customers each week to reflect its 'broadening appeal' it said.
'This was another year of good progress for Morrisons as we continued to grow sales, profits and dividends, whilst also investing in future growth,' said non-executive chairman Sir Ian Gibson.
The board revealed in a statement that it intends to invest this year to boost growth, with an additional 32,516m2 of new store space to be opened in addition to the 46,451m2 acquired from the Cooperative Group.
'Our focus on fresh food and value appeals to shoppers everywhere and provides a strong platform to take Morrisons from national to nationwide,' said group CEO Mark Bolland.
This focus on fresh food was again in evidence as the group launched a campaign this week to give away free fresh produce when customers spend £40 (€43.30) or more in its stores.
As part of Morrison's Let's Grow scheme to encourage children to grow and eat fruit and vegetables, the campaign involves collecting vouchers from leading UK daily newspapers and exchanging them for up to £4 (€4.33) of free fruit including oranges, braeburn apples, pears and plums.
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