Not the most exciting share, but with safeway conversion now complete (and how much better the old safeway stores are now) the shares should start to come back. Already started a nice rise from a recent low. Costs for conversions will still hold the price back but when that is out of the way, should be be nice. 190p

GF - see post 259.

Harry - in case you didn't know :-)

RNS Number : 9667Y

Morrison(Wm.)Supermarkets PLC

08 March 2012

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc

8 March 2012

Dividend

Following the preliminary announcement of its results for the period ended 29 January 2012 made this morning and in accordance with the provisions of Listing Rule 9.7A.2, Morrisons announces that the final dividend of 7.53 pence per share will be paid on 20 June 2012 to shareholders on the register on 18 May 2012.

End

Profits and dividend rise at Morrisons
By Ruya Niazi | Thu, 08/03/2012 - 12:45

Supermarket chain Morrisons (MRW) boasted of a 8% increase in pre-tax profits as it announced its results for the year ended 29 January.

Turnover came in at £17.7 billion. Store sales grew by 3.9% to £13.4 billion (excluding fuel), while the average basket spend increased by 0.6%. Throughout the year the group opened 34 new supermarkets, which contributed to 2.1% of the total growth.

The supermarket confirmed that value was becoming an important decision for consumers, stating that "retailer own-brand sales, which carry a lower average unit price, have been performing more strongly than branded products as shoppers look for ways to manage their expenditure".

Capital expenditure and investments was £306 million higher than the previous year, totalling £901 million. The company announced the commencement of a refurbishment program, with 15% of space under new format/concept at the end of the first half, bringing the total capex for the year to £1.2 billion.

Additionally, the company confirmed that acceleration in convenience and online development was continuing, with the changes expected at the end of 2012 and beyond.

Morrisons promised that it was "on track" to meet the objective of returning £1 billion to shareholders over the two years to March 2013. It increased its dividend for the year by 11% to 10.7p.

Looking ahead, 2012 was expected to be a "challenging year". However, more encouragingly, the company expects to "continue to deliver profitable growth".

Shares in the company are trading on a 2012 price to earnings ratio of about 10 times

Morrisons chief delivers as fresh approach points the way ahead

Dalton Philips has been a busy man in his first two years as chief executive of Morrisons

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/damianreece/9131782/Morrisons-chief-delivers-as-fresh-approach-points-the-way-ahead.html

the buy back is not giving holders any more benefits . so i have started to sell .

once the div is ex the share 9 times out 10 drops more than the div that is why i buy per ex and sell before ex div date and if they drop a lot more than the div i buy them back for a few more pennys

you seem to rather contradict that statement on the cna thread - and actually, your assertion is also somewhat suspect

i'm afraid that though you (say you) have made more more than your local bank has room in the vaults for, an awful lot of your comments are pretty questionable

cynic i have not sold CNA i added more yesterday 10070 which i posted 306.99p
the reason i am not selling is the north sea and i think the budget will push these up a lot more . hope that helps and i will buy more on any dips I also added 24468 rsa yesterday and did post it . my buys are there for all to see . have a nice day and enjoy what you have got i have nothing better to do than play the market and i enjoy the ride . beating the book is all i am interested in and when i can not do this i will be no more

make silly comments and expect to be shot at - i should know!

actually, of all the the supermarket shares, this is the one i like most, though i currently also hold tesco

and as an aside
with the olympics ahead, some of the mid market restaurant and similar companies are worth a serious look .... and of course WPP

cynic i do agree but plenty of tome to get in

i rather like RTN and have already bought and MRW of course .... DOM perhaps ....WPP i already hold though quite often trade in and out

UPDATE 2-Morrisons ready for Tesco fresh food assault
08 Mar 2012 - 11:19

* Year pretax profit 935 mln stg vs forecast 922 mln stg

* Revenue 17.7 bln stg, up 7 pct

* Dividend 10.7 pence, up 11 pct

* Sees challenging 2012 but expects profitable growth

* Shares rise 2.5 pct


(Adds detail, CEO, analyst comment, shares)

By James Davey

LONDON, Mar 8 (Reuters) - Britain's fourth-biggest grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets said it is well-placed to resist any attempt by wounded market leader Tesco to make gains in the fresh food battleground after leading the way with its own fresh format stores.

Last year Morrisons launched a new fresh food concept in 12 stores, introducing 350 more fruit and vegetable products, reducing space given over to processed foods and knocking down walls so customers can see its butchers, bakers and fishmongers in action.

The revamped stores posted a 14 percent rise in produce sales, with delicatessen sales up over 40 percent.

Some 48 stores will have the new format by July, at a cost of 1.7 million pounds ($2.7 million) per store.

"This will be a differentiator, this is game-changing stuff," Chief Executive Dalton Philips told reporters.

"We'll have 15 percent of our sales going through these new fresh formats by the end of the first half. It's almost impossible to replicate."

On Monday Tesco began its fight back after a shock post-Christmas profit warning, detailing plans to create 20,000 jobs, open new stores and refresh hundreds of existing stores with a focus on improving its offers of fresh produce, fresh meat, bakery and counter services. [ID:nL5E8E520H]

Morrisons' Philips said: "We're taking the fresh market experience to a whole new level and just moving it right on. We can do that because we've got these craft skills in our business, it's part of our culture.

"You just can't create a butcher or a baker, it takes years and years."


BEAT EXPECTATIONS

The CEO was speaking after Morrisons posted a better-than-expected 8 percent rise in full-year profit, sending its shares 2 percent higher.

Morrisons, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart's Asda and J Sainsbury in UK market share, posted a profit before tax and one-off items of 935 million pounds in the year to Jan. 29, helped by a focus on fresh foods and low prices.

That compared to analysts' average forecast of 922 million pounds and 869 million pounds made in the previous year.

Turnover rose 7 percent to 17.7 billion pounds, with sales at stores open at least a year up 1.8 percent.

Britain's retailers are mostly struggling as shoppers are hit by rising prices, muted wages growth and government austerity measures, as well as worry about a stagnant housing market, job security and the impact of the euro zone debt crisis.

Morrisons, which raised its dividend by 11 percent to 10.7 pence a share and its capex guidance for 2012 to 1.2 billion pounds, said it anticipated 2012 would be "challenging" but said it expected to deliver profitable growth.

"Given the context of very tough UK food retail trading conditions, we consider this encouraging," said analysts at Credit Suisse.

As well as modernising its core chain, Morrisons, which runs nearly 500 superstores and, unlike rivals, produces much of the food it sells, has been diversifying into non-food, e-commerce and convenience stores.

After trialing three M local convenience stores in 2011 the firm will open 15-20 this year and 50 next year.

Shares in Morrisons, which have lost 11 percent of their value over the last three months, were up 2.49 percent at 291.9 pence at 1110 GMT, valuing the business at 7.3 billion pounds. ($1 = 0.6367 British pounds)


(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Neil Maidment and Hans-Juergen Peters)

((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 20 7542 7674)(Reuters Messaging: james.davey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MORRISONS/

From LEX in the FT.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3/ca7ee678-694c-11e1-9618-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1ot0eitVg

..............helpfully, Carrefour and Delhaize can check out Wm Morrison’s results which were out on the same day. Despite dreadful economic conditions at home, the British supermarket group announced that EPS grew one-10th last year. Its success is partly down to picking two trends that Carrefour and Delhaize did not. First is falling demand for hypermarkets. Last quarter, Carrefour’s French hypermarkets experienced same-store sales drops of about 5 per cent. In contrast, Morrison has trialled local convenience stores in three cities, and will now open a further 70 over the next two years.

Second, Morrison recognised that shoppers remain price sensitive and did not increase prices with inflation. Same-store sales excluding fuel grew 2 per cent last year, compared with inflation of more than double that. In contrast, price rises at Delhaize’s stores sent shoppers out the doors.

By not being too greedy, Morrison’s has found a way to ride out the downturn and avoid the reconstruction pain now necessary at its rivals.

Ex-divi 16th May 2012, 7.53p

Interim Management Statement.

StockMarketWire.com
William Morrison Supermarket said today it has made a satisfactory start to its new financial year, although Q1 like-for-like sales weakened.

Morrisons said as expected, the economic environment for the consumer has remained challenging, with the high price of oil and other commodity prices putting pressure on disposable incomes.

In the first quarter to end-April, total sales excluding fuel were up by 1.5% (3.1% including fuel) and like for like sales were down 1.0% (up 0.9% including fuel).

Morrisons said it continues to focus on the delivery of our previously announced range of strategic and operating initiatives which, combined with a close management of the cost base, gives it confidence of achieving continued profitable growth. An update on progress will be provided at the Interim Results in September.

The group is well advanced on the programme to retire £1bn of equity over the two years to March 2013. To date it has acquired and cancelled 168m shares at a total investment of £491m. The financial position of the Group remains strong.

The uncertain economic background is expected to remain challenging for the consumer and accordingly the Board remains cautious. The performance in the first quarter was broadly in line with expectations and the financial outlook for the year remains unchanged.

3 month low just hit @275p.

Ex-div (7.5p) 16th May
2517

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