UK retailer Morrisons said it will open 60 new stores in the next three years as it continues its drive to move from “national to nationwide”.
Speaking at the firm’s preliminary earnings conference today (11 March), CFO Richard Pennycook said the retailer would invest around GBP2.2bn (US$3.3bn) in the next three years as it looks to a target of covering 1.5m sq ft of space and create 20,000 new jobs.
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“In the coming three years we will make further investments: in manufacturing, in our facility in the South West, in fruit and vegetables, in packaging and in categories we haven’t entered yet,” Pennycook said.
“These are major investments and we will need a capex of GBP2.2bn. We have a full programme for 2010 and many opportunities to invest in the future.”
Pennycook added that the new stores will be a mixture of larger and smaller stores, with the majority being larger. “Our space ambitions for the future remain more in the south as that is where the strength of our business is underbalanced in the country.”
The retailer this morning booked a profit of GBP598m, a 30% increase on 2008. Turnover increased 6% to reach GBP15.4bn.
Pennycook said that while 2009 was challenging, the company expects 2010 to be “every bit as tough”.
“We are different from our competitors and as number four in the market place that is important to us. There are still areas we should lead and we don’t. Ready meals, we know from our taste tests that they are every bit as good as our competitors, and also in fresh fruit and vegetables. We have not committed to it enough before, but it is in our programme for 2010,” Pennycook said.
He declined to comment on what ex-CEO Marc Bolland’s plans might be when he takes up his role at Marks and Spencer but added: “They’re not going to do Market Street. It would be a difficult for anyone else to replicate. If there are games to be played, they’re in a different game to the one we’re in.”
