Asda returns to sales growth as price cuts kick in
SUPERMARKET giant Asda said yesterday it had returned to underlying sales growth in its first quarter as price-cuts started to attract thrifty shoppers.
Asda, which trails market leader Tesco by annual sales and is vying with Sainsbury’s to be the UK’s no2 grocer, said like-for-like sales rose 0.1 per cent in the 15 weeks to 20 April compared with the same period last year.
That followed a decline of 0.1 per cent in its previous Christmas quarter.
Asda, which is owned by the world’s biggest retailer Wal-Mart, began cutting prices to compete with the discounters last year, saying in November it would spend £1bn on lowering prices over the next five years.
Chief executive Andy Clarke said yesterday that the strategy was “paying dividends”.
“We are in the first few months of a five-year journey, but I am confident that we are on the right path – and the numbers we are reporting today … show that we are moving in the right direction and already making gains,” he said.
Parent company Wal-Mart reported a five per cent drop in quarterly profit as a severe winter in the US kept shoppers from its stores.