Morrisons has reported a rise in sales over Christmas, driven by its wholesale business.

Morrisons recorded group like-for-likes, excluding fuel, up 3.6% in the nine weeks to January 6.

Retail comprised 0.6% of the increase, and wholesale – Morrisons sells to retailers including Amazon – accounted for 3%. Total sales climbed 4% excluding fuel.

Morrisons observed that “there was a change in consumer behaviour during the period” but it performed well, “sustaining a strong offer and trading the business hard for customers”. The grocer kept the price of key Christmas items the same as last year.

Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: “This is Morrisons’ fourth consecutive Christmas of like-for-like sales growth during the turnaround.

“Our performance shows colleagues are listening hard and responding to customers, providing consistently great value and good quality when it matters most.

“Morrisons is well set to keep improving the shopping trip and become more and more relevant for more customers.”

The retailer said customer satisfaction “increased significantly” over the period, which “is an important measure of our turnaround progress, especially during the busiest weeks ahead of Christmas and New Year”.

The biggest improvements were in colleague friendliness and checkout experience.