Asda 1Q Comparable Sales Fall 5.7% on 'Fierce Competition'
19 Mai 2016 - 3:48PM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
LONDON--Asda, the U.K.'s third-largest grocer by market share
and the British unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), said Thursday
that like-for-like sales fell 5.7% in the first quarter of 2016,
citing "fierce competition" in the market.
Asda has a 16% share of the U.K. grocery market according to
Kantar, which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of
25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K. Asda
follows Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) and J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) which
have 28% and 16.5% of the market respectively, according to the
most recent data from Kantar.
Last month, Tesco reported a 0.9% rise in like-for-like U.K.
sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 ended Feb. 27,
excluding both VAT and fuel, and said the market remains
"challenging, deflationary and uncertain". It is due to issue a
first-quarter trading statement on June 23.
Sainsbury reported a 1.1% fall in like-for-like sales for fiscal
2016 ended March 12, including VAT, but excluding fuel, and also
described the market as "competitive." It is due to report
first-quarter trading on June 8.
Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said Asda's cost
analytics program, which is part of "project renewal" made good
progress and delivered savings that were invested back into the
business.
"Project renewal remains a focus with the aim to simplify and
strengthen the customer offer, reduce costs and drive sales," he
said.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2016 09:33 ET (13:33 GMT)
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