Morrisons has revealed a slump in earnings and like-for-like sales - excluding fuel - as the supermarket giant faces "very subdued" customer sentiment amid the cost-of-living crisis. The group, which was bought by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice for £7billion last year, has revealed it posted adjusted earnings of £177million over the 13 weeks to July 31, compared with £356m over the same period last year.
Morrisons also said that group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell by 3.1% over the third quarter. Sales for the company's financial year so far are down 4.9% year-on-year.
David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, said: "It's clear that the cost-of-living crisis is starting to change customer shopping patterns in many ways. The speed, scale and severity of cost and energy price increases, exacerbated by the terrible war in Ukraine, had significant impacts through the quarter, but the market is still growing and the energy price guarantee will ease pressure on consumers."
He added: "We are doing everything we can to keep prices down for customers. I want to thank all Morrisons colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication to helping our customers through an exceptionally difficult period for UK consumers."
