VS Series
Morrisons v Asda
Two Yorkshire supermarkets, both bought by private equity with borrowed money. How do their accounts compare?
Morrisons leads on pre-tax profit, profit margin and net assets; Asda on turnover and growth. Asda is the biggest by turnover at £24,054m, against £8,491m at Morrisons. Both lost money; Morrisons lost the least, £1.96 of every £100 it took.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: Morrisons to Oct 2025 · Asda to Dec 2025
Who they are
Morrisons
WM Morrison Supermarkets Limited · 00358949Morrisons is a supermarket chain selling groceries and household goods through large supermarkets, Morrisons Daily convenience stores and an online delivery service.In brief: supermarket chain · makes much of its own fresh food · started in Bradford · owned by a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice backed groupFull profile →Asda
Asda Stores Limited · 00464777Asda is a supermarket chain selling groceries, George clothing and general merchandise.In brief: supermarket chain · groceries, clothing and general merchandise · own stores and online delivery · George clothing brandFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- Morrisons loses the least. Of every £100 it takes, it loses £1.96, against a loss of £7.11 at Asda.
- Asda is the largest on the top line, £24,054m of turnover, 2.8x Morrisons's £8,491m.
- Asda is growing fastest, turnover +1.2% on its own prior year. Morrisons went backwards.
- Asda is the biggest employer with 129,158 people; Asda pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £24,000.
- Morrisons has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £5,466m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Every company here made a loss. Morrisons lost the least, £1.96 of every £100 of turnover. Asda does worst, losing £7.11.
Financing bites hardest at Asda: £2.10 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Asda (£24,054m), Morrisons (£8,491m).
By headcount, Asda leads with 129,158 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 2 months of each other. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Asda grew fastest, turnover +1.2% on its own prior year, ahead of Morrisons (-5.3%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Asda employs the most, 129,158 people, against 43,975 at Morrisons.
Asda has the highest average staff cost, about £24,000 a head; Morrisons the lowest, about £23,000.
Morrisons brings in the most turnover per employee, about £193,000, against £186,000 at Asda. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Market Bidco Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 39 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Morrisons →
Asda Stores Limited · 00464777Held by Asda Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 26 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Asda →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Morrisons | Asda |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | WM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS LIMITED | ASDA STORES LIMITED |
| Company number | 00358949 | 00464777 |
| Incorporated | 1940 | 1949 |
| Accounts filed | 12 August 2026 | 16 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £8,962m | £23,774m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £2,704m | -£834m |
| Staff costs | £1,022m | £3,089m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 12.0% | 12.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 46,166 | 131,027 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 39 | 26 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Morrisons v Asda: common questions
Who is the biggest of Morrisons or Asda?
Asda, with turnover of £24,054m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Morrisons: the smallest loss, -£166m pre-tax in the year to October 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Asda, with 129,158 employees in its latest accounts.
Morrisons or Asda: which is bigger?
Asda, with turnover of £24,054m against £8,491m at Morrisons on their latest filings. On margin, Morrisons keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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