Wm. Morrison Supermarkets has reported a decline in first-half profit, as turnover fell about 5%, with a decrease in like-for-like sales.
Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the company was £183m, lower than the prior year’s £267m.
For the first half ended August 3, 2014, the company’s pre-tax profit declined to £239m from £344m last year. The group’s underlying pre-tax profit for the period totaled £181m, while it was £371m last year.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets non-executive chairman Sir Ian Gibson said, "Conditions are tough, and the industry is going through unprecedented change. Our first-half results reflect the reset of the business we announced in March."
The group’s underlying pre-tax profit for the period totaled £181m, while it was £371m last year. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel/VAT fell 7.4%, while the decline was 1.6% last year.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets chief executive Dalton Philips said: "We are six months into the three-year plan that we set out in March and, although it is early days, I am encouraged by the progress we have made. There is an enormous amount of change and modernisation flowing through our core business, much of it enabled by new systems. Price investment, in-store improvements, and better products were all key components of the work undertaken in the first half, and the Morrisons card launches soon.
"Our new growth channels -online and convenience -are progressing well, and our cost-savings and cash flow plans are both on track to achieve our ambitious three-year targets."
