Defiant Sir Ken stays at Morrison

SIR Ken Morrison made it clear today that he intends to stay on as chairman of supermarkets group Wm Morrison for at least another year.

And chief executive Bob Stott is to delay his retirement until spring 2007, as the two men see through the massive task of integrating the £3bn-plus Safeway acquisition.

The group told today's annual meeting there had been an improvement in trading in recent weeks, but it was unable to give 'reliable guidance' on full-year profit figures.

It has made four profits warnings since it bought Safeway last year, and has now brought in accountants KPMG to help with its financial forecasts.

Stott said: 'We are doing everything except delivering the numbers. We are not forecasting because we don't want to get it wrong again.' He and Sir Ken, who has stepped down as head of the operations board, are 'absolutely determined' to stay on to see through the conversion process, despite pressure from shareholders.

Richard Pennycock, 41, from RAC, has been appointed finance director but will not start until October. There was no news on non-xecutive appointments. Next chairman David Jones, who is leading the search, remains the only independent director.

Group like-for-like sales excluding petrol rose 2.3% in the 15 weeks to 13 May, a performance Stott said was second only to Tesco. But the core Morrisons chain had weakened further, with underlying sales down by 2.3%.