It is that time of year when retailers brief investors on how they fared over Christmas and, to judge from the trading update issued by Morrisons on Tuesday, the supermarkets ended 2020 as they spent most of the year.
The big grocery multiples are perceived as having done well during the pandemic - even though their extra costs incurred during lockdown outweighed any extra sales they enjoyed - and, if Morrisons is any guide, that continued into the festive season.
The UK's fourth-largest supermarket offered up a veritable Christmas selection box of numbers from which investors could choose but, arguably, the most significant of the figures presented was that, during the 22 weeks to Sunday 3 January, like-for-like (or underlying) sales were up by 8.1% on the same period last year excluding fuel.
During the three weeks to that day, taking in the crucial Christmas and new year period, sales growth accelerated to 9.3%.
These are numbers for which, in any normal period in recent years, supermarkets would have given their right arm.
That the shares barely budged on the news perhaps reflected the fact that the latest sales growth reflects a slowdown on the thunderous 12.3% growth reported during the company's second quarter of its financial year - taking in most of August, September and October - or the fact that the 8.1% figure came in slightly shy of the 8.3% figure pencilled-in by analysts.
Not that longer term investors in Morrisons will be too perturbed. The eagle-eyed among them will have spotted this was a record Christmas for the grocer - something, interestingly, the company itself did not dwell on.
It preferred instead to highlight the work it has been doing in local communities, such as the 35,000+ doorstep delivery orders completed during the fortnight leading up to Christmas, delivering to, as the company put it, "the vulnerable, the elderly, the isolating and the isolated".
David Potts, the chief executive, added: "I'm very pleased with the way the Morrisons team has helped our customers across the nation enjoy their Christmas in the best way they could - with safe shopping, great service and outstanding stores even in the most difficult circumstances.
"But I'm even more proud of the broader contribution that the Morrisons team has made to the communities we serve - through foodbank donations, doorstep deliveries to the vulnerable, discounts for key workers, the work of our 500 community champions and the countless small acts of kindness that have made a particular difference this year."
Mr Potts, who has presided over a turnaround at Morrisons since becoming chief executive in March 2015, also highlighted today that three of the company's supermarket car parks will be used as COVID-19 vaccination centres from this coming Monday while it has offered the government use of a further 47 more. He said the company's assets were "at the disposal of the country".
The careful crafting of the message is no accident. The big grocery multiples were stung by commentary last year highlighting the extra sales they put on during the pandemic alongside the sums saved from the government's business rates relief. When Tesco announced at the beginning of December that it would be returning the rates relief it had received, Morrisons was quick to do the same, with Sainsbury's and then Asda following suit.
In terms of the read-across for the other supermarkets, there were one or two interesting pointers in the update.
Mr Potts said shopping patterns and customer behaviour had been different this year, due to large gatherings of families and friends being ruled out by COVID-19 restrictions, while customers had begun shopping earlier than in previous years and opting for more traditional Christmas fare. Morrisons enjoyed a 64% rise in sales of champagne and one of 40% in whole salmon.
It was also notable that restrictions on movement - as well as lower fuel prices - acted as a drag on fuel sales while, across the piece, the ferocious price war in groceries meant that "deflation was a continuing feature for the whole period". The growth in the value of goods sold by Morrisons was lower than the growth in the volume of goods sold. This is likely to be a feature of sales updates from competitors.
So, too, is an increase in costs related to COVID-19. Morrisons revealed today that, due to additional tier systems and restrictions announced by the government since its last trading update in early December, it expected to incur a further £10m in coronavirus costs - taking the total for the financial year to £280m.
A further hit to profits will come from lower fuel and food-to-go sales in garage forecourts as a result of the latest lockdown - which has also forced the company to close its cafes.
The big question for investors, as rival supermarkets report on Christmas trading, is whether a rising tide raises all boats or whether Morrisons is outperforming the sector.
The case for the former is that some 5 million Britons who would normally travel abroad for Christmas stayed at home and that there was stronger demand across the board for Christmas food and drink.
The case for the latter came in separate till roll figures today, published by the data provider Kantar, which revealed that Morrisons was the only one of the big four supermarket chains to increase its market share over Christmas.
Sceptics will say that is partly because Morrisons is coming from a lower base in online, where it was late to the party, which means its online sales - augmented by tie-ups with Amazon and Deliveroo to build on its existing relationship with Ocado - are accordingly growing more rapidly than those of its competitors.
But that would be churlish. These were strong numbers from an increasingly confident business that is narrowing the gap, in market share terms, on the number three player Asda.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2NvdmlkLTE5LW1vcmUtcmVhc29ucy1mb3Itcml2YWxzLW9mLW1vcnJpc29ucy10by1mZWFyLWl0cy1yZXN1cmdlbmNlLTEyMTgwMDI30gFsaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL2NvdmlkLTE5LW1vcmUtcmVhc29ucy1mb3Itcml2YWxzLW9mLW1vcnJpc29ucy10by1mZWFyLWl0cy1yZXN1cmdlbmNlLTEyMTgwMDI3?oc=5
2021-01-05 16:53:23Z
52781286351032
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar