Asda’s problems continue as it becomes the only major supermarket to see sales fall before Christmas
Asda was the only major supermarket to suffer a drop in sales in the run-up to the crucial Christmas period.
The somber update underscored the magnitude of the job facing the returning grocer boss.
Research group Kantar said Asda’s sales fell to £4.3bn in the 12 weeks to December 1 – down 5.6 per cent on the same period a year ago.
The dismal figures laid bare the extent of the group’s decline, just weeks after former CEO Allan Leighton returned to the company to take over as executive chairman from Stuart Rose.
Asda, once Britain’s second-largest supermarket, has struggled since Issa brothers Mohsin and Zuber joined private equity giant TDR Capital to buy the company in 2021 amid £6.8 debt billion.
In contrast, sales rose last month at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.
Battle: Research group Kantar says Asda’s sales fell to £4.3bn in the 12 weeks to December 1 – down 5.6% on the same period a year ago
Asda has seen its share of the supermarket market fall from 14.1 percent at the time of the takeover to a record low of 12.3 percent.
It languished as shoppers flocked to rivals, and Aldi is now hot on its heels with 10.3 percent of the market.
That leaves Asda fighting to maintain its position as Britain’s third largest supermarket, after Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
The company is now pinning its hopes on new leadership.
Leighton, 71, made his name as Asda boss between 1996 and 2001. His tenure included selling the company for £6.7 billion to US giant Walmart in 1999.
One task at the top of his list is appointing a full-time CEO. Asda has been trying to rent one for more than three years.
Morrisons, which is also owned by private equity and was bought by Clayton Dubilier & Rice for £7 billion in October 2021, has also seen its market share fall.
It now owns 8.6 percent, up from 8.7 percent last year.
But it was good news for Britain’s largest supermarket. Tesco has seen its market share rise to a seven-year high of 28.1 percent.
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