Asda sales growth slows in fourth quarter

Asda reported its seventh quarter of sales growth in a row at the end of last year, though the rate of growth softened from the previous quarter.

Published as part of US parent Walmart's fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, Asda was revealed to have grown like-for-like sales 1.0%, not including petrol. This was down from the 2% increase in the third quarter.

Asda chief executive Roger Burnley said that during the fourth quarter, Asda own brand continued to grow ahead of the market, helped by product innovation within the Extra Special range.

He said 2018 was a challenging year for the retail market said retailers "have to be prepared to innovate and challenge their status quo if they want to continue to remain relevant" as the pace of change in the market "shows no sign of abating".

He added: “The year ahead looks no less turbulent than the last, with uncertainties around Brexit playing on our customers’ minds."

Walmart and Asda are awaiting the preliminary findings from the UK's Competition & Markets Authority investigation into the proposed £7.3bn merger between Asda and Sainsbury's, which was agreed last April.

The CMA will publish its findings and possible remedies, such as the selling of stores, before the end of February, the regulator said last month, with any response hearings coming in "early-mid March", if required.

Recent industry data from Kantar Worldpanel indicated that Asda was the second-fastest growing grocer, with double-digit online growth leading to overall expansion of 0.7% in the 12 weeks to 27 January. Year on year its market share was calculated to have shrunk 0.2 percentage points to 15.3%.