Strong Focus Leads to Morrisons Strong Results

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)

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

£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