Asda reports worst ever quarterly performance as sales continue to fall

Asda has reported its worst quarterly performance ever on Thursday (August 18th).

The Leeds-headquartered supermarket chain has revealed that sales fell 7.5% in the three months to June 30th, making this the eighth consecutive quarter in a row that it has seen a drop in sales.

Asda, which is owned US giant Walmart, posted a 5.7% fall in sales for the three months to March 30th, earlier this year.

This news comes a month after Walmart appointed its China boss, Sean Clarke, as the new chief executive of Asda.

Mr Clarke, who took over as CEO on July 11th, is spearheading a £1.5bn investment strategy of price cuts to turn the supermarket chain around.

Doug McMillon, CEO of Wal-Mart said: “In the UK, the competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly impacting traffic and comp sales.

“Our strategy to turn things around is focused on improving the retail basics. We are simplifying and strengthening our offering through improved availability and assortment discipline, reducing costs and driving sales through strategic price investments.

“While our turnaround will take time, I’m confident in the new leadership team there and want to assure you we’re addressing this with urgency.”

Asda is currently the biggest casualty of the ongoing price wars between the UK’s ‘big four’ supermarkets, whilst also battling the fast-growing discount food retailers Lidl and Aldi.

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