Morrison sees more market share gains
Wm Morrison Supermarkets met forecasts with a 19 percent rise in first-half profit and said it was well placed to continue taking market share as cash-strapped Britons flock to its budget-focused stores.
First Great Western to invest £29 mln in service improvementsThe country's fourth-biggest food retailer, which runs about 375 stores and has a market share of about 11 percent, said on Thursday it made profit before tax and one-off items of 295 million pounds in the 26 weeks to August 3.
Forecasts ranged from 284 million pounds to 305 million, with an average of 294 million, in a Reuters poll of eight analysts.
Sales excluding fuel at stores open more than a year - a key industry measure - were up 7.6 percent and Morrison said it had attracted an extra half a million customers every week.
"The first half profit performance gives us confidence that we will deliver our profit expectations for the year," it said in a statement.
Britain's shoppers are curbing spending amid higher food and fuel costs, as well as sliding house prices, yet Morrison is benefiting from its imagine as a lower-priced alternative to some of its rivals.
It is also, after several problems, reaping the rewards from its purchase of rival Safeway in 2004, as well as its "Refresh" campaign to revamp stores.
Asda, the country's second-biggest grocer and part of Wal-Mart Stores, said last month like-for-like sales excluding fuel and adjusted for the timing of Easter rose 6 percent in the three months to June 30.
Market leader Tesco publishes second-quarter numbers on September 30 and number three J Sainsbury on October 8.
(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by David Holmes)
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