UK supermarket Asda has updated its trading performance for the first quarter ending 31st March 2025, revealing a decline in like-for-like sales.
The retailer recorded total revenue of £5 billion (excluding fuel), a 5.9% decrease year-on-year. This includes a c(1.1%) impact of an extra day’s trading in Q1 2024 due to the leap year.
Like-for-like sales in the four months to the end of April, adjusted to include the peak Easter trading period, declined by 3.1%. This represents a 1.1% improvement on Q4 2024. Asda has seen further improvements in its like-for-like performance in May.
Allan Leighton, Asda’s executive chairman, commented: “Earlier this year we set out a clear ambition to make Asda the number one choice again for value-conscious families. To deliver this, we are making a material investment to move our entire range to a new, lower Asda Price by the end of next year.
“We’re making good progress – with around 10,000 products at these lower price points – and customers are seeing the difference in their pockets.
“There has been a striking improvement in availability, which is now up to 95%, and our customer satisfaction measures have improved too. Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focused on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.”
Due to Asda’s investment in store hours and “strengthened relationships” with supply partners, product availability has reportedly increased from 90% to 95% since January, while customer satisfaction scores have also improved.
Michael Gleeson, Asda’s chief financial officer, said: “We have a clear strategy which we are executing against, backed up by a robust financial plan and a material programme of investment in price, range and availability.
“This has established a price advantage over other full-service supermarkets and we are beginning to see customers respond positively. Our consistent and disciplined approach to cash management and strong balance sheet, gives us the headroom to continue investing in lower prices for customers.”
