Supermarket firm Morrisons has quietly built a wholesale business worth more than £1billion, analysts have calculated.
The company last week extended a deal with convenience chain McColls and it has a separate partnership with Amazon which includes supplying the online giant’s new London store.
Broker Jefferies said such side deals will tip the size of its supply division over £1billion this year in what is expected to be a tough slog for retailers and shoppers alike.
Expansion: The company last week extended a deal with convenience chain McColls and it has a separate partnership with Amazon
Analysts, including Morrisons’ house broker Shore Capital, said the grocer is poised to pay dividends to shareholders this week despite Covid costs slashing profits.
Coping with Covid cost it around £300million and it repaid a £230million tax break from the Chancellor’s business rates holiday in December.
That means profit more than halved to around £200million before tax and exceptional items, according to Shore Capital despite sales rising. But the company is expected to confirm a final dividend to shareholders on Thursday – a figure that will be based on underlying profit before the payment of business rates.
Shore Capital said the results would provide a ‘staging post’ after a ‘distinctive year of immense achievements’.
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