Asda sees first food sales growth since 2024 as price cuts pay off

Supermarket group says investment in cutting prices begins to show results in its Q3 trading update

Supermarket Asda has announced it achieved quarterly food sales growth for the first time in over two years, crediting its investment in competitive pricing for the turnaround.

The Leeds-based retailer reported a marginal 0.1% decline in overall group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, at £5.1 billion for the three months ending September.

However, same-store food sales returned to positive territory for the first time since 2024, rising by 0.1%, while online grocery surged 6.9% and its Asda Express convenience format posted 2.7% growth.

This represented a significant turnaround from second quarter trading, when group like-for-like sales fell 2.3%, and food sales declined 1.9% during the period.

Michael Gleeson, chief financial officer at Asda, said: “The work we’ve done through the period to deliver against our strategy was reflected in our third quarter performance.

“Like-for-like food sales returned to growth in the third quarter, online sales grew strongly and group sales increased, despite the challenging economic backdrop.”

Asda, the UK’s third largest supermarket chain, has been pursuing an aggressive price-cutting strategy in an effort to revive its commercial performance.

The retailer earlier this month appointed former Morrisons boss David Potts as its new chief executive to spearhead the recovery programme.

Former boss Allan Leighton took on the role of non-executive chairman, two years after returning to lead the business.

While the price reductions have supported the company’s performance, they have also taken a toll on profitability. This, combined with a problematic IT system upgrade last year that affected stock availability and weakened sales, resulted in the group plunging to a £989 million pre-tax loss for 2025, wider than the £599 million deficit recorded the previous year.

Adjusted earnings also fell by 33% to £761 million over the year, in part due to its Asda Price and Rollback pricing strategy.

Industry data from Worldpanel released earlier this week revealed Asda’s market share dropped to 11.3% in the 12 weeks to November 1, down from 11.6% the year before, while sales declined by 0.5% during the period.

It was the sole major supermarket to record falling sales in the quarter, according to Worldpanel figures.

Mr Potts said, upon assuming the chief executive role, that Asda had “made good progress but significant opportunities remain” to reinvigorate sales, with a focus on keeping prices low for shoppers.

In August, Mr Leighton said the retailer remained in the “foothills of recovery”, and he believed it was roughly a third of the way through its turnaround programme.