Morrisons' sales growth improves in 'highly competitive' UK market

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Morrisons on Wednesday reported an acceleration in underlying sales growth in its third quarter, saying it benefited from a push to sharpen its prices in a "highly competitive" market.

Morrisons, the UK's sixth-largest grocer and owned by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice since 2022, said its like-for-like sales rose 3.2% in the 13 weeks to July 26, having been up 2.2% in the previous quarter. Total sales were £4.1 billion ($5.5 billion).

Morrisons, which differs from its main rivals in that it also has its own production operations, making half of the fresh food it sells, said it had made "a good start" to its fourth quarter and was well set for Halloween.

It said its third quarter, benefited from the hot weather and the soccer World Cup, and it grew sales and volumes ahead of the market, expanding its market share.

PEERS SAW SALES GROWTH SLOW

In June, industry leader Tesco and number two Sainsbury's both reported slower quarterly sales growth.

“Our stronger sales momentum reflected a broad-based improvement across the business - with our Supermarkets, Online, Convenience, Pharmacy and Myton manufacturing businesses all reporting good growth," Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh said.

“Key to this performance is our continued commitment to keeping prices low," he said, highlighting the recent launch of a new price promise.

Industry data, published on Tuesday, showed Morrisons' total sales up 2.8% over the 12 weeks to September 6 year-on-year, giving it a market share of 8.4%, flat on the year.

Market Topco Limited, Morrisons ultimate holding company, said in July that it made a loss before tax including exceptional costs of £926 million in its year to October 2025, ending the period with net debt of £3.2 billion.

($1 = 0.7426 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)