By Ian Walker
LONDON--Wm Morrisons Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) has returned to
growth for the first time since December 2013, and is the only one
of the top four grocers to record a rise in sales, according to a
survey on Tuesday.
For the 12 weeks ended May 24, Wm Morrison's sales rose 0.1% to
2.78 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) and its market share remained
steady at 10.9%. Wm Morrison is widely expected to fall from the
FTSE100 index later this month in the quarterly review, based on
indicative data from FTSE International. Its share price has fallen
15% over the past 12 months.
"A committed core of loyal Morrisons consumers is responding
positively to recent initiatives and business has been boosted by
online sales. Morrisons' performance is an improvement on what was
a difficult May 2014, so this is only the first step in any future
recovery," Fraser McKevitt head of retail and consumer insight at
Kantar Worldpanel said.
Outside the top four, the only other grocers to increase market
share and sales were up-market retailer Waitrose and German
discounters Aldi and Lidl, according to Kantar, which monitors the
household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically
representative households in the U.K.
Waitrose sales rose 1.6% to GBP1.31 billion and its market share
rose to 5.2%, from 5.1% in the 12 weeks ended May 25, 2014. The
combined market share of Aldi and Lidl rose to 9.3% in the 12
weeks, compared with 8.4% in the year earlier period. Aldi sales
have risen 16% to GBP1.38 billion, while Lidl's sales are up 8.8%
to GBP982 million.
Number one retailer Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN)'s market share fell to
28.6% in the 12 weeks ended May 24, compared with 29% in the
comparable period ended May 25, 2014, while Asda's share fell to
16.6%, from 17.1%. Tesco sales are down 1.3% over the period to
GBP7.28 billion, while Asda's sales are 2.4% lower at GBP4.24
billion
J. Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN)'s market share was unchanged at 16.5%
in the period, but sales have dipped 0.3% to GBP4.19 billion.
"All of the major supermarkets are finding growth difficult as
prices have been declining since September 2014. Yet while
like-for-like groceries are 1.9% cheaper than this time last year
this is not as steep a fall as last month, when prices were down by
2.1%. This means that if current trends continue, prices will once
again start rising by the end of the year," Mr. McKevitt said.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
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