London  - Morrisons, one of Britain's leading low-cost supermarket chains, Thursday reported a leap of 45 per cent in pre- tax profits to 449 million pounds (742 million dollars) in the last six months.

It said the increase up to August showed that consumers were looking for value at a time of economic restraint.

The results of Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket chain left market leader Tesco trailing behind by 4.3 per cent. (dpa)