Morrisons is to abandon its old yellow and black logo

The supermarket is to "de-clutter" its stores and market itself as "the food specialist for everyone".

The announcement accompanied the release of full-year results that showed pre-tax profits of �331m ($637m) up from �54m the previous year.

Morrisons is the UK's fourth largest supermarket chain.

The company now has 11% of the grocery market following its purchase of rival Safeway in March 2004.

The deal pushed Morrisons into the red as the company struggled to integrate the Safeway business, but the firm is now showing signs of recovery.

Healthy eating

This is definitely what we call catch-up... they're playing with the big-boys now Teresa Wickham, Retail analyst Check Wm Morrison shares Can new-look Morrisons win?

Behind the scenes, Morrisons is undertaking a three-year investment plan which will include spending on its manufacturing and distribution systems.

As part of its revamp, the supermarket is also aiming to introduce more healthy and fresh foods.

However, analysts said some of the policies, such as the new emphasis on healthy-eating and the introduction of self-service check-outs, were mainly an attempt by Morrisons to regain ground on its rivals.

"This is definitely what we call catch-up because they've moved from being a really good regional, northern retailer dominated to some extent by one man, they've taken over Safeway and they're playing with the big-boys now," said retail analyst Teresa Wickham, who used to be a director of Safeway.

Morrisons is also in talks to create a property partnership for 25 of its stores as a first step to extracting more value from its portfolio of freehold properties.

Morrisons' shares have risen recently on speculation that the supermarket's property assets could attract interest from private equity buyers.