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

Last time we called in at Morrisons (Friday, late afternoon) I was not impressed at all.

1. Just outside the store entrance the trolley store roller shutter door had jammed shut so we had to walk all the way around the side to access the TS by the side door.

"An engineeer has been sent for."

2. Meanwhile, the car park was littered with loads of trollies which could have been collected and quite easily stored outside the store near the entrance on the paving.
I could not believe, that we actually had to turn the car round when we left and go out of the car park by another vehicle aisle because the aisle we picked first was actually blocked with trollies!

3. We wondered if the store is currently "managerless"? Hmmm? But what about the assistant managers? Where were they?

4. Loads of empty shelves (obviously because of low stock levels rather than busy buying) and lots of poor quality produce blatantly evident. The famous humidifier on the fresh produce stall was a joke! Some produce was drowning through 'over watering'. Some was dead (yes, actually dead!) because it had been out of the water for far too long. It was strongly evident that nobody had been around for ages who actually cared about it enough to do anything to tidy things up.

Spiffing chart LOL!!!

David Potts Appointed Chief Executive Officer

Final Results

PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO 1 FEBRUARY 2015
A focus on building momentum


Financial summary
· Free cash flow pre-dividend of £785m
· Generated £42m of cash post-dividend and pre-property disposals
· Total turnover down 4.9% to £16.8bn (2013/14: £17.7bn)
· Like-for-like (LFL) sales (ex-fuel/ex-VAT) down 5.9% (2013/14: down 2.8%)
· Underlying profit before tax(1) down 52% to £345m (2013/14: £719m(2)), around the mid-point of the guidance range set in March 2014
· Underlying earnings per share(1) down 53% to 10.9p (2013/14: 23.1p(2))
· Property impairment £1,273m, primarily due to market conditions
· Loss before tax £792m (2013/14: Loss of £176m)
· Final dividend of 9.62p. Total dividend up 5% to 13.65p (2013/14: 13.0p), in line with commitment given in March 2014
· Operating working capital improvement of £206m, in line with guidance
· Property disposal proceeds of £448m as guided, profits of £131m achieved
· Net debt reduced by £477m to £2,340m (2013/14: £2,817m)

Strategic and operating highlights

For 2014/15:
· Initiated price re-set in March 2014, with a series of price cuts since
· £315m invested in the customer proposition
· Improving trend in LFL and volume KPIs through the year
· £224m cost savings achieved, £1bn three-year target on track
· Match & More card launched

From 2015/16:
· New CEO, David Potts, starts in the business on 16 March
· Focus on improving the customer offer and building trading momentum
· Increased investment in customer proposition planned for 2015/16
· Continue to prioritise capital discipline, with plans for further cost savings, improvement in working capital and lower capital expenditure
· Ongoing development of IT platform, including first sales-based ordering trials
· Further development of online model
· M local roll-out slowed significantly, proposition and site selection criteria to be reviewed. Proposed closure of 23 M local stores during 2015/16
· Dividend of not less than 5p per share for 2015/16

Interim Management Statement

Q1 Trading Statement - 13 weeks to 3 May 2015

In the 13 weeks to 3 May, total sales* excluding fuel were down 1.1% (down 5.1% including fuel) and like-for-like* (LFL) sales were down 2.9% (6.6% including fuel). Online contributed 1.0% to LFL during the period.

David Potts joined the business as CEO on 16 March. Our priorities are to improve the customers' shopping trip and make our core supermarkets strong again. We are listening hard to customers and colleagues and, wherever possible, we are responding quickly.

As previously announced we closed more stores than we opened during the period, which led to a net reduction in selling space of over 50,000 square feet. In addition, we are taking steps to simplify our Head Office, and anticipate incurring associated one-off costs of £30m-£40m during 2015/16.

The financial position of the Group remains strong, with further good progress during the period. Net debt fell by around £150m, to £2.2bn compared to £2.3bn at the end of 2014/15.

David Potts, Chief Executive, said:

"My initial impressions from my first seven weeks are of a business eager to listen to customers and improve. I have been very pleased by the desire and support of colleagues, and by the genuine warmth and affection for Morrisons shared by both colleagues and customers.

"This is a business with many attributes, some unique. Our task is to use those advantages to improve the shopping trip for customers and create value."

Outlook

We anticipate that underlying profit before tax will be higher in the second half than the first.

A full assessment of the business is underway, and we will provide a more detailed update at the time of the Group's interim results in September. However, as outlined at the 2014/15 preliminary results, the focus continues to be to invest more for customers in order to build trading momentum.

*For supermarkets, online and convenience stores, reported exc.VAT and in accordance with IFRIC 13.


more..

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yum - poor results expected profits likely to be circa 25% down next report.....................................

Morrisons-set-announce-47-per-cent-drop-profits

The supermarket giant’s interim results will show that its profit before taxes fell from £239million to £125million, according to the consensus forecast of City analysts.

Morrisons to sell 140 M local convenience stores

Morrisons has agreed to sell 140 M local convenience stores for a consideration of c.£25m in cash, to a team led by retail entrepreneur Mike Greene and backed by Greybull Capital LLP. Morrisons will retain five M local stores, which are either on forecourts or will be converted to small Morrisons supermarkets.

more..

INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE HALF YEAR TO 2 AUGUST 2015

Financial summary

· H1 like-for-like (LFL) sales (ex-fuel/ex-VAT) down 2.7%, Q2 LFL down 2.4%
· Total turnover down 5.1% to £8.1bn (2014/15: £8.5bn)
· Underlying profit before tax(1) (UPBT) down 35% to £117m (2014/15: £181m)
· UPBT £141m pre-restructuring costs (2014/15: £216m)
· Free cash flow pre-dividend of £479m (2014/15: £423m)
· Generated £64m of cash, post-dividend and pre-property disposals
· Underlying earnings per share(1) (EPS) down 35% to 3.73p (2014/15: 5.74p)
· Profit before tax £126m (2014/15: £239m)
· Operating working capital improvement of £125m
· Property disposal proceeds of £181m, profit of £96m achieved
· Impairment and provision for onerous contracts of £87m
· Interim dividend of 1.50p (2014/15: 4.03p). Full year dividend confirmed at not less than 5.00p
· Net debt reduced by £254m since year end, to £2,086m

Strategic and operating highlights

· Listening programme shaping new strategy
· Six priorities to build on our strengths and improve the customer shopping trip:

1. To be more competitive
2. To serve customers better
3. Find local solutions
4. Develop popular and useful services
5. To simplify and speed up the organisation
6. To make the core supermarkets strong again

· Progress being made on the six priorities and customer satisfaction improving
· Key appointments to the new Executive team
· £1bn cost savings programme on-track, a further £189m delivered in first half
· Substantial proposition re-investment, up year-on-year to £181m in first half
· £2bn operating free cash flow target on-track for 2014/15-2016/17
· Sale of 140 M local convenience stores announced yesterday
· Proposed closure of a further 11 supermarkets announced today

Morrisons says Q3 like-for-like sales down 2.6% http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5146872

Morrison's delivered an unexpectedly solid Christmas trading update in a welcome turnaround for the supermarket group under new chief executive David Potts. Like-for-like (LFL) sales were up 0.2%, some way better than the 2% decline predicted by analysts, helped by online grocery sales doubling and LFL transaction numbers up 1.3% on the same period last year in core supermarkets.

Ouch Morrisons.


Company News

Morrisons' price campaign faces new Aldi threat

Fri, 12 February 2016



Sainsbury (J) Quote more

Price: 239.10

Chg: 2.70

Chg %: 1.14%

Date: 16:15



FTSE 100 Quote


Price: 5,683.46 Chg: 146.49 Chg %: 2.65% Date: 16:15

(ShareCast News) - Discounter Aldi has reacted to Morrisons' recent ramping up of price competition with a wave of price reductions and a new advertising campaign.
After Morrisons' launched its new 'price crunch' campaign at the start of the month, Aldi said it has cut swathes of prices "in order to maintain its price advantage of up to 38%" versus the larger rival.

Aldi made price cuts across a range of its core lines including fresh meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and other household staples.

The German-owned group has also launched a nationwide advertising campaign "to ensure shoppers understand it remains by far the lowest-priced supermarket in the UK".

It said in the 12 weeks to 3 January, the average item at Aldi was 29% cheaper compared with the average at eight competitors, an even wider gap than a year earlier.

"Our competitors continue to claim that they are closing the price gap. We think it is important to make it clear to shoppers that any challenge to our price leadership position will not succeed," said chief executive Matthew Barnes.

"Aldi remains Britain's lowest-priced supermarket by a significant margin and that is a position we will retain next month, next year and forever.

"While other retailers talk up price cuts and infuriate shoppers with misleading price-match schemes, we keep it simple with a consistent promise: whenever you visit Aldi, you're paying the lowest prices in Britain."

MARKET REPORT: Is Tesco checking out Morrisons? Shares rise on rumours an offer around £6.42bn could not be far away

By Geoff Foster for the Daily Mail

Published: 22:53, 17 February 2016 | Updated: 08:13, 18 February 2016

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3451543/MARKET-REPORT-Consolidation-UK-food-retailing-space-nailed-participants-fight-market-share.html#ixzz40Vco034P

StockMarketWire.com
Morrisons has swung to a FY pretax profit of GBP217m, from a loss of GBP792m. Total turnover was down 4.1% to GBP16.1bn, from GBP16.8bn. Underlying like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, fell 2%.

It proposed a final dividend of 3.5p a share, taking the total to 5p, from 13.65p. Future dividends would be covered about two times by earnings per share, which is a policy that aligns shareholder returns with the long-term performance of the company.

"Our strong balance sheet and cash flow provide the platform for turnaround and growth, but what makes us truly unique as food maker and shopkeeper is the personality and dedication of our thousands of colleagues," said CEO David Potts in a statement.

OUTLOOK
"During 2016/17, we expect to realise the remainder of our £1bn three-year cost savings target, but the turnaround will take time and will continue to require sustained investment in the proposition.

"We also expect to exceed our three-year targets for £600m operating working capital improvement and £1bn property disposal proceeds.

"For 2016/17 year-end net debt, we expect a range of £1.4bn-£1.5bn.

"The Board recognises the importance of sustainable dividends to shareholders. From 2016/17, we will be paying a dividend covered around two times by underlying earnings per share.

"In the medium-term, we now expect £50m-£100m incremental UPBT from broader business opportunities we have identified within online, manufacturing, wholesale, popular and useful services, and from lower interest costs.

"In addition, in the medium-term we now expect free cash flow to be at least £300m better than first guided, with operating working capital improvement at least £800m (up from £600m previously), and property disposal proceeds at least £1.1bn (up from £1bn)."

HIGHLIGHTS
� LFL improved in H2, with Q4 LFL up 0.1% despite deflation of over 3%

� Total turnover down 4.1% to £16.1bn (2014/15: £16.8bn)

� Underlying profit before tax (UPBT) pre-closure and restructuring costs of £302m (2014/15: £413m), at the mid-point of the £295m-£310m guided range

� UPBT of £242m (2014/15: £345m)

� Underlying earnings per share (EPS) of 7.8p (2014/15: 10.9p)

� Free cash flow pre-dividend of £854m (2014/15: £785m)

� Generated £257m of cash, post-dividend and pre-property disposals

� Operating working capital improvement of £348m

� Property disposal proceeds of £300m, profit of £131m achieved

� Net debt reduced by £594m, to £1,746m

� $250m debt redeemed after year-end from cash on the balance sheet

Why I’m not surprised by anti-scouse bigotry
Jamie Fahey
A recruitment ad for Morrisons supermarket bars actors from Liverpool. But these crass, gratuitous insults on the city and its people are hardly new

Oh, just do one Morrisons.

This was my initial reaction to the supermarket’s mysteriously offensive recruitment ad for northern actors which specifically ruled out applicants with a Liverpool accent. Being a scouser, I bridled instantly (before quickly having a word with myself to “calm down, calm down”) at the thought of yet another brazen assault on the good people of Liverpool. Being a journalist (who writes headlines for a living), my next thought was: “Fewer reasons to shop at Morrisons”.

It soon became clear, however, that this was not a simple “demonise-all-scousers moment”. It was directed at actors. Actors who can probably pull off quite a few regional northern accents. So why the discrimination?

Posted by “a third party” on Casting Networks International website, it appealed for “proper working-class people” for a Morrisons publicity campaign. “They should all be warm and likeable,” it went on. “But not at all like the characters from Benefits Street. They should not sound or look posh. And nobody from Liverpool, please.”

The deplorable language used to stereotype different types of 'working class' people is pure class-based discrimination
The crass, gratuitous nature of the words jump out. Like being stopped in the street and hit with a tirade of puerile, outdated incoherence. Growing up against a backdrop of the Thatcherite “managed decline” of the city of Liverpool, I have plenty of personal experience of such nonsense. In my quest for a first job as a reporter, I ended up being interviewed for a news agency role. It went OK until the interviewer, as if struck by a paroxysm of offensiveness, blurted out: “Just one final thing … you don’t write the way you speak, do you?”

A new twist on the “what do you call a scouser in a suit?” gag.

Needless to say, it didn’t work out; I took my dubious literacy skills elsewhere and left the interviewer (who, incidentally, could reasonably be described as a “bad wool”) to ponder his ethically questionable approach.

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My other brush with a more political anti-scouse buffoonery came in the run-up to the 2005 general election. A few months earlier, Boris Johnson, then Tory MP for Henley and editor of the Spectator, had been forced to apologise for a notorious leader article in the magazine accusing Liverpool people of being “hooked on grief” and rehashing the Sun newspaper lies over Hillsborough for good measure. Johnson was out on the stump in Reading, where I now live, to drum up support for a fellow Tory. As he bumbled into view, pressing the flesh with abandon, he marched towards me and held out his hand. “Sorry. I’m not shaking your hand,” I spat out. “I’m from Liverpool.”

“Oh, right,” he splurted. “Well. Oh, yes I’ve apologised about that ...”


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“Still, I’d rather not,” I replied.

After a brief pause, his eyes flickered as he spotted an opportunity to unite around a common enemy. “Of course,” he chirped. “I went to Liverpool. The scousers were brilliant. Wonderful. The ones who were really hideous were the press. Awful people!”

“Oh riiiiight,” I mused. “I’m a journalist. At the Guardian. I used to work for the Liverpool Echo, too … what exactly … Boris? Boris?! Don’t go Boris, come back laa …”

The Morrisons incident combines elements of both these approaches: the dimwit who can’t help himself and the snide bullying type out to gain popularity by exploiting misperceptions, but who simply hides when challenged.

The anti-scouse barb is undeniably crass, but the deplorable language used to stereotype different types of “working class” people is arguably more invidious; it’s straight out of the divide-and-rule school of snide, dishonest class-based discrimination.

It stinks of the sort of warped morality seized upon by George Osborne and other Tory ministers with their common rhetoric of “strivers” and “skivers”, all of which raises the spectre of the Victorian workhouse and the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor. And scousers always fall into the latter category.

Of course, it could all have been a joke. Pretty lame, but maybe some witless fool of a casting director’s idea of a jape. For jokes to work, though, I would say they need a a signpost or two and a jolting punchline. A punchline like “fewer reasons to shop at Morrisons” perhaps.

As for the author of the ad? My money’s on it being the work of a bad Tory wool.



Only the Guardian would even bother to write this shite. :0) From memory there are not many Morrisons in Liverpool.

There are many comments, I like this one the best:-

Being a journalist (who writes headlines for a living), my next thought was: “Fewer reasons to shop at Morrisons”.

my choice would have been "more reasons to rob at Morrisons"

(this is a joke, some of my best mates are scousers etc.)

INTERIM RESULTS

Financial summary
· Q2 LFL sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 2.0%, the third consecutive positive quarter
· H1 LFL sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 1.4%
· Total turnover almost flat, down 0.4% to £8.03bn (2015/16: £8.06bn)
· UPBT up 11% to £157m (2015/16 UPBT before restructuring costs: £141m), or up 34% including last year's restructuring costs (2015/16 UPBT: £117m)
· Underlying EPS up 35% to 5.04p (2015/16: 3.73p)
· Reported PBT up 13.5% to £143m (2015/16: £126m)
· Free cash flow of £558m (2015/16: £479m)
· Operating working capital improvement of £318m, two-and-a-half-year total £872m
· Debt facilities redeemed: $250m USPP and £152m of sterling/euro bonds
· Net debt reduced by £477m to £1,269m, below our year-end target
· Interim dividend up 5.3% to 1.58p (2015/16: 1.50p)

Strategic and operating highlights
· Continuous listening programmes and delivery of the six priorities are improving the customer shopping trip and stabilising LFL sales
· Good progress on plan to Fix, Rebuild and Grow a broader, stronger business
· New strategic partnerships announced with Amazon, Timpson and Ocado
· Disposal of stake in Fresh Direct after period end

Financial targets update
· Cost savings to exceed £1bn target by end of 2016/17
· £2bn free cash flow target exceeded six months ahead of plan
· Working capital improvement target increased from £800m to £1bn
· £5m of the £50m-£100m incremental PBT target delivered in the first six months
· Year-end net debt target lowered from £1.4bn-£1.5bn to around £1.2bn, and net debt expected to fall to less than £1bn by the end of 2017/18

Andrew Higginson, Chairman, 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, as demonstrated by Morrisons winning a number of recent prestigious awards such as the 2016 Meat and Fish Retailer of the Year.

"We remain on track to deliver improved profits and returns for shareholders".

David Potts, Chief Executive, said:

"We are pleased with positive like-for-like sales and 11% underlying profit growth in the first half. Our priorities are unchanged. We have made improvements to the shopping trip for customers and we plan to do more.

"I would like to thank the entire Morrisons team of food makers and shopkeepers who are working very hard to Fix, Rebuild and Grow Morrisons. This turnaround opportunity is in our own hands and I am confident we will succeed."

Outlook

It is too early to know how the recent referendum result could affect the British economy, but customers tell us their food shopping has not changed. We have seen no negative impact on customer sentiment or customer behaviour. There are some uncertainties, especially around the impact on imported food prices if sterling stays at its current lower level. However, our priorities are unchanged, and we will continue to invest in becoming more competitive and improving the shopping trip for customers.

During the first half, we achieved the first £5m of incremental profit from wholesale, services, interest and online, and remain confident of our £50m-£100m medium-term target.

We now expect to exceed our £1bn three-year cost savings target by the end of 2016/17. We have also identified further productivity opportunities beyond 2016/17 in areas such as product ordering, distribution and in-store administration.

At the 2015/16 preliminary results in March we increased our medium-term working capital improvement target to at least £800m, from £600m. In the first half, we delivered several of our separate working capital improvement programmes and have already exceeded the £800m target. We will sustain these improvements and now expect further gains in future. Our medium-term working capital improvement target increases to £1bn.

Net debt is already below the bottom end of our 2016/17 year-end guidance range of £1.4bn-£1.5bn, and we are lowering guidance to around £1.2bn. For 2017/18, we expect net debt to fall further, to less than £1bn.

Christmas sales grow as Morrisons serves customers better

In the nine weeks to 1 January, like-for-like* (LFL) sales excluding fuel were up 2.9% (up 4.7% including fuel), our strongest performance for seven years. Total sales* were also up (2.0% excluding fuel, or 4.0% including fuel), despite the continuing impact of store closures. LFL transaction growth was again strong, up 5.2% year-on-year during the period.

This growth was achieved by improving the offer, becoming more competitive, and serving customers better. Fresh categories such as Fruit & Veg, together with Beers, Wines & Spirits, 'Best' and Nutmeg clothing all performed well. Our performance shows that when we improve the shopping trip, customers respond.

We continue to serve our customers better both in the stores and online. Service standards improved at the checkouts and on the shop floor, and Morrisons.com achieved its biggest ever week for sales.

Our new 'Best' range is already proving very popular, with over half of customer baskets including at least one 'Best' item. We launched over 100 new 'Best' products especially for Christmas shoppers in addition to the first 470 which were launched in the Autumn. Customer feedback on quality and breadth of the range has been excellent, and we see further significant potential for 'Best'.

In addition, in recent months a new automated ordering system has been introduced into all stores in Grocery and many Fresh categories. It is the first of its kind for Morrisons. The system is capital light, utilising cloud technology and store-specific historic sales data to forecast stock requirements. It is simpler and saves time for colleagues, availability has improved significantly, and stock levels are down.

David Potts, Chief Executive, said:

"This Christmas we made further improvements to the customer shopping trip. We stocked more of what our customers wanted to buy, more tills were open more often, and product availability improved as over half of sales went through our new ordering system. Both like-for-like and total sales grew, which was very encouraging.

"Eighteen months ago I said that this would be a colleague-led turnaround, and our improving performance is entirely due to the continuing hard work of the Morrisons team of food makers and shopkeepers. I would like to thank all colleagues for making Christmas and New Year extra special for our customers."

Outlook:

As previously guided, we expect 2016/17 year-end net debt to be around £1.2bn.

We now expect 2016/17 Underlying profit before tax (UPBT) to be ahead of consensus**, in the range £330m to £340m.

* For supermarkets and online, reported ex-VAT and in accordance with IFRIC 13.
** Consensus UPBT £326m (Source: VUMA. Published on Investor section of Morrisons website, 2nd December 2016)

Final Results

Financial summary

· LFL sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 1.7%, positive in all four quarters and 2.5% in Q4
· Turnover up 1.2% to £16.3bn (2015/16: £16.1bn) despite store closures
· UPBT up 11.6% to £337m, at the upper end of the £330m-£340m guided range (2015/16 UPBT before restructuring costs: £302m)
· UPBT up 39.3% (2015/16 UPBT including restructuring costs: £242m)
· Underlying EPS up 39.8% to 10.86p (2015/16: 7.77p)
· Reported PBT up 49.8% to £325m (2015/16: £217m)
· Free cash flow of £670m (2015/16: £854m)
· Operating working capital improvement of £360m
· Gross debt reduced by £717m, net debt reduced by £552m to £1,194m
· Triennial pension valuation complete, with funding surplus of £111m
· Final dividend of 3.85p, full year total dividend up 8.6% to 5.43p (2015/16: 5.00p)

Strategic and operating highlights

· First year of positive LFL sales and UPBT growth since 2011/12
· Strong cash flow, gross and net debt down substantially
· First year of new dividend policy. Dividend sustainable and covered around two times by underlying EPS
· Fix, Rebuild and Grow strategy starting to build a broader, stronger Morrisons
· New partnerships with Amazon, Ocado, Timpson, Rontec, and the revival of the Safeway brand are all capital light growth opportunities
· Further forty 'Morrisons Daily' forecourt convenience stores planned with Rontec

Financial targets update

· £18m of the £50m-£100m incremental PBT target delivered in the first year
· £1bn cost savings achieved. Further productivity and cost savings to come
· Good progress with medium-term cash flow targets: achieved over £900m of £1bn working capital, and almost £900m of £1.1bn disposals
· Net debt expected to fall to less than £1bn by the end of 2017/18

StockMarketWire.com
McColl's Retail reached an agreement for Wm Morrison Supermarkets to supply McColl's growing estate of 1,300 convenience stores, and 350 newsagents.

This long-term partnership provides McColl's with a best-in-class fresh food and grocery offer through the relaunched Safeway brand, which it will enjoy exclusively for a period of 12 months.

This would significantly advance McColl's fresh food credentials and provide its customers with an enhanced range.

The agreement also allows McColl's to improve its commercial terms and simplify its operations as it migrates to a single wholesale partner for the entire estate.

Morrisons will supply both Safeway and branded products to McColl's, with a phased rollout programme starting in January 2018.

McColl's CEO Jonathan Miller said: "As a large, leading multiple grocery retailer with its own outstanding food manufacturing capability Morrisons stands apart from the competition, and we are truly delighted to be entering into partnership with them.

"In McColl's, Morrisons gain a long-term partner of significant scale with a growing neighbourhood convenience estate and in Morrisons we gain access to their best-in-class sourcing and manufacturing capabilities.

"This will enable us to provide our customers with the highest quality fresh food through the relaunch of the much loved and trusted Safeway brand.

"This is a defining moment for McColl's and builds on the transformational deal we announced last year to acquire 298 high quality convenience stores."

Morrisions CEO David Potts said: "We are very pleased to partner with McColl's, and look forward to developing a long and successful relationship together.

"We are also pleased to be reviving the Safeway brand which we know customers will enjoy.

"This new partnership is a further example of Morrisons leveraging existing assets to access the UK's growing convenience food market in a capital light way.

"Wholesale supply will help make us a broader, stronger business."

HSBC today upgrades its investment rating on Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) to hold (from reduce) and raised its price target to 240p (from 190p).