Morrisons notches up third consecutive quarter of growth

Morrisons has reported a third consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth as the supermarket continues its turnaround under chief executive David Potts.

The UK's fourth largest grocer said like-for-like sales grew 2% in the second quarter, while pre-tax profit for the six months to 31 July rose 13.5% to £143m ($189m, €168m).

Morrisons added it had seen "no negative impact" since the Brexit vote.

Chairman Andrew Higginson said: "The new team has made a real difference and delivered further good progress across the board in the first half. Prices are lower, customers are being served better and quality is improving."

Potts, who has now been in charge for more than a year, has been attempting to revive the retailer's fortunes.

So far in 2016 Potts has signed a new home delivery deal with Ocado as well as a landmark agreement with US online giant Amazon to supply fresh food to its customers.

Morrisons, which is battling a bitter grocery price war, last month revealed that it was slashing selected meat and poultry prices by 12%.

All of the so-called big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons – have been cutting prices to compete with German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which have eroded their market share.

Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Nicholas Hyett said: "Morrisons are in the process of delivering one of the most impressive self-help fuelled turnarounds out there. A third quarter of like-for-like growth is welcome, coming after years of declines, but that's really a side show."

"The group is not so much taking a knife to its cost base as a meat cleaver. Targets on both working capital improvements and cost savings have been smashed and extended."