Shares in UK supermarket group Morrisons rose 5.46% to 284.75 pence (US$5.513) in morning trade on the London stock exchange today (10 January) after the grocer revealed that a late rush in Christmas trading boosted its sales over the holiday period.

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Like-for-like sales during the six-weeks over Christmas and the New Year increased by 6.3%, Morrisons revealed in a trading update.


“Whilst trading in the run-up to Christmas was muted, the week immediately prior to Christmas saw a record performance,” the company said in a statement.


Morrisons highlighted its increased sales of fresh food, notably in regions where the retail banner was unknown before its takeover of Safeway, which helped to improve the group’s market share in that part of the sector. Nevertheless, Morrisons’ overall market share remained static, with gains in fresh food sales being offset by the company’s ongoing store disposal programme following the Safeway acquisition.


Morrisions added that waste and mark-downs in the week after Christmas were 20% better than the previous year, with less stock being carried over into the new year. This development, Morrisons suggested, was the consequence of improved logistics and in-store promotions over Christmas.

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“These sales results are slightly ahead of our expectations at the time of our interim results,” said chief executive Marc Bolland. “However, the group is in the early stages of its profit recovery and the trading environment remains highly competitive.”


In the second half of the company’s fiscal year-to-date, like-for-like sales excluding fuel rose 5.4%, an increase that Bolland described as “satisfactory”.


In a conference call, Bolland stated that although there were some signs of price inflation during the summer, intense price competition between the retailers over Christmas meant that prices for 2006 as a whole continued to fall.


Morrisons will report its preliminary results for full year to 4 February on 15 March.