Morrisons (LSE: MRW) FY17 Results: Ongoing Improvement in Sales and Profitability Trends

Executive Summary

• The UK’s fourth-largest grocery retailer, Morrisons, reported FY17 revenues were up 1.2% year over year and that comparable store sales were up 1.7%. Comps rose by 2.5% in 4Q17, representing a sequential quarterly improvement. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of positive underlying growth and marked the first fiscal year of positive comps since FY12.
• Underlying operating profit increased by 8.3%, helped by the achievement of the company’s plan to save £1 billion in costs over three years. This contributed to operating margin expansion of 17 basis points, to 2.6%, up from 2.4% in the year-ago period.
• Underlying profit before tax rose by 11.6%, and these gains trickled down to result in a 38.8% increase in diluted EPS, taking it to 10.73 pence.