The supermarket – which is the UK’s third biggest chain – saw a sales slump of 5.8% during the festive season this year, according to data from the analyst firm Kantar
Asda has hit yet another roadblock on its road to recovery after suffering its worst Christmas since 2015.
The supermarket – which is the UK’s third biggest chain – saw a sales slump of 5.8% during the festive season this year, according to data from the analyst firm Kantar. The figures revealed that Asda was the only major UK supermarket to perform worse compared to last year. Spending in Asda stores fell to £4.59billion in the 12 weeks to December 29 – down from £4.87billion last year.
The last time the supermarket reported a drop in Christmas sales this big was in 2015 when it was led by former chief executive Andy Clarke. The latest drop saw Asda’s market share falling to 12.5% in December, which is down from 13.5% the year before. The new figures look set to add even more pressure on Asda’s new chairman, Allan Leighton, who is working to turn the business around after several years of decline.
Asda has been struggling since it was taken over by private equity firm TDR Capital and brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa in February 2021. When Leighton took over in November last year, he vowed to “restore Asda’s DNA” by cutting prices across its stores.
According to reports, Asda has seen sales improve over the last few weeks with different unpublished figures from Kantar set to show sales rise by 0.4% in the four weeks until December 29. Although, the new chairman has previously said it could take as long as five years to restore fortunes, with his first priority being finding a new chief executive. The previous one – Roger Burnley – left suddenly in 2021. Asda boss and co-owner Mohsin Issa used to run the day-to-day operations for the chain but stepped down from the role last September.
Clive Black, of Shore Capital, said the latest figures were “dreadful” for Asda, adding: “The magnitude of the market share loss year on year also speaks volumes.” He said: “Leighton is, to me, a force for good, even at the age of 71. But he will need a much stronger executive team to execute whatever plans he has for stabilisation and recovery.”
The fall in Asda’s market share comes as inflation across supermarkets climbed to its highest level since March 2024. Grocery price inflation rose to 3.7% in December, up from 2.6% in November, according to Kantar.
A spokesperson for Asda said: “We are focused on providing great value for hard-working families and this is already making a difference, with visible improvements in sales and market share in the four-week Kantar period ending Dec 29. We have started this year as we mean to go on by reducing prices on thousands of products in store and online by an average of 26% as part of our big January price drop.”
