UK grocers Dec sales hit five-year low

Bloomberg

British grocers suffered their weakest holiday sales growth in five years amid intense discounting as consumers reined in spending during the critical Christmas period.
Data from the retail analysis divisions of Nielsen and Kantar show that UK supermarket sales increased only marginally. Nielsen recorded 0.5% growth for the four weeks ended on December 28, which it said was the lowest rate since 2014. Grocery sales rose just 0.2% in the 12 weeks to December 29, the slowest pace since 2015, according to Kantar.
“There was no sign of the post-election rush many had hoped for in the final weeks before Christmas, with shoppers carefully watching their budgets,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar. “In fact, many of us cut back on traditional and indulgent festive classics.”
A glimmer of positive news came on Tuesday from Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, the first of the Big Four grocers to report holiday figures, though the results were only slightly less bad than expected. Sales at Morrison stores open at least a year dropped 1.7% in the 22 weeks through Sunday, excluding fuel. Analysts had estimated a 2.2% decline. The drop reflects a continued slowdown in growth at Morrison, which has been undertaking a wide-ranging strategic turnaround for the past few years.
Morrison’s share of the UK grocery market edged down to 10.3% in the final three months of 2019 from 10.6% a year earlier, according to Kantar. Shares in Morrison rose as much as 3.7% after the company reported sales. They’ve lost about 10% in the past 12 months.
CEO David Potts said that the grocer may have made a misstep in failing to participate in the Black Friday sales period in November, which provided a bounce in sales in the past.