Asda Unlikely to Report Growth This Year as Sales Fall, Says Chair

Asda is unlikely to see growth before the end of this year at the earliest, the supermarket's chair, Allan Leighton, has said, as sales fall despite price cuts and more stock on its shelves.

- Sarah Butler

Meanwhile, Aldi, which is closing the market share gap with Asda, put further pressure on its rival by announcing significant expansion plans across the UK.

Underlying sales at Asda fell 3.1% in the four months to the end of April compared with the same period a year before - despite continuing food inflation which has helped all other rivals to grow.

However, Leighton said Asda, which has been struggling since a £6.8bn buyout by the Blackburn brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity firm TDR Capital in 2021, was seeing "green shoots" as the pace of decline had eased from the previous quarter. "We have made real progress but there is a long way to go," he said.

Total sales fell 6% to £5bn in the period after the UK's third largest supermarket invested millions in keeping down the price of key items and updating its IT systems as part of an £800m handover from systems run by its former owner Walmart.