Morrisons racks up annual loss of £1bn

The loss before tax, on sales of £18bn in the year to October 29 last year, was revealed in a Companies House filing for the retailer’s parent company, the Financial Times reported.

Despite the scale of the loss, it was an improvement on the previous year when Morrisons fell into the red by £1.5bn.

Morrisons was taken private by private equity giant CD&R in 2021. Last year, its finance costs were £735m – up from £593m the year before. About £400m of that reflected annual interest payments on the grocer’s borrowings, which stood at £5.4bn. 

Morrisons, which lost its place as a big four grocer to Aldi two years ago, is in the midst of a turnaround programme spearheaded by new chief executive Rami Baitiéh who has sought to put the customer at the heart of the business.

Morrisons said that last year’s pre-tax loss reflected the impact of various non-cash items and that “the underlying performance of the business is strong”.

Operating profit before exceptionals was £70m, reversing a loss of £63m the year before. The retailer said: “Morrisons’ financial performance highlights the progress the company has made, delivering six consecutive quarters of like-for-like growth.”