Morrisons boosted by Safeway stores

Morrisons has revealed solid like-for-like sales growth for the Christmas period, with its former Safeway stores behind the increase.

Like-for-like sales rose 4.4 per cent in the six weeks to January 8, although this figure was boosted by strong petrol sales. With fuel excluded, like-for-likes were up 2.8 per cent.

At the 220 former Safeway stores, comparable sales were up 9.7 per cent, and the most recent conversions showed the biggest improvement.

However, Christmas was tougher at the 122 stores owned prior to the Safeway takeover. Like-for-likes were down 0.7 per cent, and 2.9 per cent excluding fuel.

Morrisons confirmed plans to close three depots in Kent, Bristol and Warrington. The grocer said that£60 million of property and redundancy costs will be incurred as a result.