Asda sales plunge worst in 20 years

Boss sticks to £1bn price cuts

ASDA have suffered their worst slump in sales for two decades.

Takings tumbled 3.9 per cent in the 15 weeks to mid-April, the chain revealed yesterday.

The drop was the largest since comparable records began in 2006.

However, it is understood it is also bigger than at any time since the 90s, when Archie Norman, then the chief executive, kick-started the supermarket’s revival.

Andy Clarke, Asda’s boss for the past five years, said of the slide: “It is a challenging figure for any chief executive to declare.”

Sales have now been falling for the past nine months in a row. The latest drop came on the back of a 2.6 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

Asda’s market share also fell to 16.9 per cent, from 17.1 per cent a year ago.

Clarke insisted he would stick to the firm’s five-year plan, which includes £1billion of price cuts.s.

He said: “The strategy is working.orking. It is clear that the big grocersrs are losing market share andd the discounters are continuing to grow.”

Finance chief Alex Russo said half the drop in sales was duee to deflation in the market.

Office for Nationalnal Statistics figures publishedblished yesterday showed groceryrocery bills fell 2.8 per centnt year on year. But Asdaa said prices in some categories, includingluding diary, were down more thann four per cent.

Experts say Britain’s second-condbiggest supermarket is alsoalso vulnerable to a resurgent Tesco.co.

Asda’s parent company, US giant Walmart, also posted weak resultslt yesterday. Quarterly profits fell, hit by higher wages and investment in their online business.