Pressure on spending begins to tell at Morrisons

6th Sep 2012 07:10

Supermarket chain Morrisons saw like-for-like (LFL) sales decline in the first half of its financial year, which the group attributed to sustained pressure on consumer spending.LFL sales, excluding fuel and VAT, were down 0.9% in the half-year to July 29th from the corresponding period of last year, when LFL sales were up 2.2%.Underlying profit before tax was up 1% to £445m from £442m the year before on turnover that climbed 2.3% to £8.9bn from £8.7bn. Statutory profit before tax slipped to £440m from £449mm.The interim dividend has been hiked 10% to 3.49p from 3.17p.An updated version of this story is now available JH