Crisis at Asda deepens as sales fall ahead of crucial Christmas trading period

Asda’s share of the grocery market has plummeted to a record low after a drop in business ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period.

In a report that will prove disheartening to boss Lord Rose, research group Kantar revealed the supermarket chain’s sales totaled £4.2bn in the 12 weeks to November 3.

That was down 5.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, making it the worst-performing grocery store in the country.

This reduced Asda’s market share to just 12.5 per cent, the lowest level since Kantar began recording figures in 2011.

The car accident figures demonstrate the scale of the grocer’s decline just days after Rose, a retail veteran and former Marks & Spencer boss, said he and his fellow bosses were in “violent agreement” that a change.

Aldi is closing in on Asda as Britain’s third biggest supermarket. The German discounter has 10.4 per cent of the market share, the same as it had a year ago, while sales rose 1.6 per cent to £3.5bn, just £700m less than Asda.

Asda’s market share has fallen from 13.5 per cent a year ago to 12.5 per cent.

Asda, once Britain’s second-largest supermarket, has been in the doldrums since brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa joined private equity giant TDR Capital to buy it in a £6.8bn debt-fueled deal in 2021. .Its market share was 14.1 percent at the time. .

Last week Rose, 75, admitted Asda had “taken its eye off us”.

Retail expert Jonathan De Mello, founder of JDM Retail, said: “With Lord Rose at the helm, there are hopes Asda’s fortunes will improve in the long term, but it faces an uphill fight.”