by Daniel Hunter
Supermarket chain, Morrisons, is facing a restructure after reporting losses of £176m for the year to the end of February.
The chain last year reported a profit of £879m.
It now plans to restructure the company to target the gap between the ‘big four’ and discount supermarkets.
Chairman Sir Ian Gibson said it was a “disappointing year for Morrisons”.
Morrisons has fallen behind the ‘big four’ supermarkets, taking a long time to move into the online/home delivery shopping market, and failing to recognise the significance of smaller, local convenience stores.
And the company was hit with a £903m cost from property and problems with its struggling baby product business, Kiddicare.
Morrisons has also announced its intentions to sell New York based food retailer, Fresh Direct.
One retail expert has described Morrisons as ‘officially going into meltdown’.
John Ibbotson, director of Retail Vision, said: “Morrisons has officially gone into meltdown. The market share of the big four supermarkets is shrinking and none more so than Morrisons with its catastrophic fall in sales and market share.
“Morrisons has fallen dangerously far behind in the two key growth areas in food retailing — online and convenience stores.
“Its online tie-up with Ocado isn’t working fast enough and its frantic scrabbling to open convenience stores smacks more of a desperate attempt to catch up rather than any clear vision.
