Morrisons posts £1bn loss amid pressure from debt pile

Supermarket chain Morrisons made a loss of more than £1 billion last year, driven by soaring financing costs as the firm’s debt also grew.

The Bradford-based retailer, which was bought for £7 billion by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in 2021, reported the heavy loss for the year to October 29 in freshly filed Companies House accounts.

The £1.09 billion pre-tax loss came after the company recorded a £1.52 billion loss in the previous year.

It revealed the latest loss came after it paid out £735 million of financing costs, which were partly linked to the firm’s mammoth debts.

Prior to the takeover, Morrisons had net debt obligations of around £3.2 billion.

The accounts showed the parent company – titled Market Topco following the takeover – had net debts of £8.5 billion at the end of October last year.

Morrisons has since said it will cut its debt pile by using funds from a £2.5 billion deal to sell its 337 petrol forecourts to Motor Fuel Group (MFG), which is also owned by CD&R.

In the last financial year, Morrisons also reported revenues of £18.35 billion, down from £18.72 billion a year earlier.

During the year, the company also reduced its staffing levels by almost 9,000 workers to just shy of 105,000 employees.

The retailer has come under significant pressure from the growth of discounter rivals, with Aldi overtaking Morrisons as the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain in 2022.

In January, its new boss said it was developing plans to “reinvigorate, refresh and strengthen” the supermarket group.

Rami Baitieh, who was appointed chief executive of Morrisons in November, said the business had “work to do” to improve its ranges, pricing and experience for customers.