Asda: LFL Sales Improve in Q1; Ocado Partnership Announced

Asda today announced its Q1 results for the period ending 31st March 2026, highlighting continued progress against its Formula for Growth turnaround plan.

Performance highlights:

• Total revenues excluding fuel £5.0bn, 1.5% down year-on-year.

• Like-for-like sales improved from (4.2%) in Q4 to (0.8%) in Q1, and (1.3%) on an Easter-adjusted basis.

• Performance driven by strong operational inputs, with availability maintained at an eight-year high of over 95% throughout the quarter.

Continued investment in key categories widened Asda’s price advantage versus full-range supermarket peers, as reflected in independent comparisons by Which? and The Grocer.

Asda Express continues to outperform the wider convenience market delivering seven consecutive quarters of growth. New partnerships with third-party food brands will drive further momentum in small stores.

Allan Leighton, Asda’s Executive Chairman, said: “In our previous trading update, I described performance as edging forwards and this continued through Q1, finishing the quarter broadly where we expected to be.

“This progress is due to the stabilisation of our core systems, which has enabled us to deliver ongoing improvements in availability, price and customer satisfaction. It has also given us the confidence to launch ‘Take a Fresh Look’ – an open invitation for shoppers to come back and give Asda another go. We’re confident they’ll see the difference straight away when they do.

“Today, we also announced a partnership with Ocado Group that will significantly improve our online business. It will bring the best-in-class technology and, importantly, enable us to compete more strongly in this fast-growing channel. This is a clear statement of intent and will put us in a much stronger position for the future.”

Michael Gleeson, Asda’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “We traded the first quarter in line with expectations and significantly improved vs Q4, supported by continued operational stability across our core systems, giving us the platform to operate more consistently and effectively. This was underpinned by continued disciplined cash management and a strong capital structure, with all debt maturities addressed through to 2028. Looking ahead, we expect to run the business with greater consistency and build on the progress made in Q1 as we deliver our Formula for Growth.”

Ocado Partnership Announcement

Ocado Group (“Ocado”) and Asda  have agreed to enter a partnership to develop Asda’s online business across the UK with the Ocado Smart Platform (“OSP”). 

Asda is one of the UK’s largest retailers, with total sales in 2025 of more than £21bn, and operations across c.1,100 stores nationwide. Asda also operates a substantial online grocery business, fulfilling more than 700,000 ecommerce orders weekly from a network of stores and dark stores across the UK. 

The focus of the partnership will be to quickly replace and upgrade Asda’s existing ecommerce infrastructure, with Ocado’s solutions to be rolled out across both stores and dark stores from 2027. Ocado and Asda plan to deploy Ocado’s end-to-end solutions across Asda ecommerce operations. These solutions include Ocado’s front-end (webshop), In-Store Fulfilment, and software to support last mile planning and route efficiency.

Under the agreed commercial framework, Ocado and Asda will work closely together in the coming months to enable go live in early 2027. Using Ocado’s Smart Platform, Asda will be able to offer a full range of online services, including scheduled and short lead-time orders, as well as click & collect. Asda will also use Ocado’s platform to fulfil and deliver orders placed through aggregator platforms such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat. 

Expected financial impact‍

The transaction is not expected to have material financial impact in FY26. Ocado expects to turn cash flow positive during the second half of this financial year, with Full Year cash flow positivity expected in FY27.

Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, said: 

We’re delighted that Asda has chosen Ocado to support the next phase of their online growth. The UK remains one of the world’s most competitive and fast-evolving online grocery markets, where technology, scale and continuous innovation are increasingly important for retailers looking to maintain leadership positions.‍

‍“Through this partnership, Asda will be able to deploy a technology platform already processing more than 70 million orders annually worldwide, supporting market-leading customer propositions across 11 countries. Asda will also benefit from Ocado’s significantly evolved platform, giving them the flexibility to adapt as the market continues to develop.‍

Allan Leighton, Executive Chairman, Asda, said:

Asda is the cheapest full-range supermarket, as consistently shown by independent price comparisons from Which? and The Grocer, and has a large, well-established online offer. ‍

‍We know that continued success in this highly competitive market is dependent on providing a positive experience for customers every time they shop. Partnering with Ocado will strengthen our online offer and provide a consistent and high-quality experience for millions of shoppers, from order through to delivery, while supporting our Formula for Growth.

Source : Asda and Ocado

Image : Asda

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