Asda Posts Q1 Sales Decline; Notes 'Green Shoots' In Performance

Asda has published its first quarter Trading Update, covering the four months ended 31st March.

Highlights

• Green shoots in sales performance, long way to go. 

• Striking improvement in availability  

• Mining the gap on price - a 3-6% gap has opened. 

• George, Express and Fuel outperforming the market. 

Strategic progress : 

• Over 10,000 products moved to a new low Asda Price driving a 3% - 6% price gap over traditional full-service supermarkets 

• New low Asda Prices are cheaper than competitor base and loyalty prices 

• Product availability increased from 90% to 95% since January, while customer satisfaction has also improved 

• £80million investment in colleague pay and benefits   

• Total revenue (ex. fuel): £5.0bn, down 5.9%, including a c(1.1%) impact of the leap year in Q1 2024  

• LFL sales adjusted for Easter (4-months to end of April) down by 3.1%   

• George & Asda Express delivered strong growth, outperforming the market, with LFL sales up 3.5% and 6% respectively. 

Asda today [29th May] updated on its trading performance for the first quarter ending 31st March 2025 and highlighted the continued progress made toward its goal of becoming the UK’s best value full-service supermarket.  

The retailer recorded total revenue of £5.0bn (excluding fuel), a 5.9% decrease year-on-year. This includes a c(1.1%) impact of an extra day’s trading in Q1 2024 due to the leap year. 

Like-for-like sales in the four months to the end of April, adjusted to include the peak Easter trading period, declined by 3.1%. This represents a 1.1% improvement on Q4 2024. Asda has seen further improvements in its like-for-like performance in May. 

Allan Leighton, Asda’s Executive Chairman, said: “Earlier this year we set out a clear ambition to make Asda the number one choice again for value-conscious families. To deliver this, we are making a material investment to move our entire range to a new, lower Asda Price by the end of next year. We’re making good progress - with around 10,000 products at these lower price points – and customers are seeing the difference in their pockets.  

“There has been a striking improvement in availability, which is now up to 95%, and our customer satisfaction measures have improved too. Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focussed on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.”     

Strengthened value position  

In January, Asda relaunched its Rollback to Asda Price programme, part of a new, material pricing strategy to deliver outstanding value for customers in stores and online.  

More than a third of Asda’s range (circa 10,000 products) have gone through the Rollback cycle and are now at the new, lower Asda Price. This has established a price gap of 3% - 6% over traditional full-service supermarkets, reflecting Asda’s strategy of keeping prices low by inflating behind the market.  

The material price investment is reflected in independent price comparisons, which consistently show that Asda is cheaper than competitor base and loyalty prices on a typical basket of products.  

These include the Which? big shop comparison, which Asda has won every month in 2025, and The Grocer 33 weekly price comparison, where Asda has racked up nine wins since January – twice as many as the next nearest supermarket.  

Strong performance in fashion & convenience  

George at Asda delivered strong results, with like-for-like sales up 3.5%, outperforming the fashion market by 2% on volume. The combination of style, quality and unbeatable value continues to set George apart from other fashion brands in the supermarket sector.  

In celebration of Asda’s 60th anniversary, supermodel Yasmin Le Bon was recently unveiled as the face of George’s summer collection. The exclusive collaboration features versatile and affordable pieces designed to resonate across all ages.  

Asda Express also performed strongly in Q1. Like-for-like sales grew by 6.0% following the integration of all 469 convenience stores and fuel sites acquired from The Co-op and EG Group. The Asda Express sites and Asda’s PFS sites adjacent to main stores outperformed the fuel market on volume during this period.   

The retailer also has a strong pipeline of new Express stores set to open in residential and city centre locations later this year. 

Improvements in priority areas 

Asda’s ongoing investment in store hours across the quarter and strengthened relationships with supply partners contributed to a notable uplift in availability and an improved shopping experience for customers.  

Product availability has increased from 90% to 95% since January, while customer satisfaction scores have also improved.    

These improvements have been recognised externally, with Asda winning The Grocer magazine’s ‘Store of the Week’ accolade on three occasions since February, based on independent mystery shopper evaluations. 

Michael Gleeson, Asda’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “We have a clear strategy which we are executing against, backed up by a robust financial plan and a material programme of investment in price, range and availability. This has established a price advantage over other full-service supermarkets and we are beginning to see customers respond positively. Our consistent and disciplined approach to cash management and strong balance sheet, gives us the headroom to continue investing in lower prices for customers.”   

Investing in colleagues  

In March, Asda announced an £80m investment in retail pay to increase hourly rates for store-based colleagues to £12.60 this year – taking its total investment in retail pay to more than half a billion since 2021. Additionally, Asda also announced it would be launching new enhanced family leave benefits package covering maternity, paternity, baby loss and kinship leave for all colleagues from July, having already increased colleague discount to 15% at the start of the year.  

Source : Asda

Image : Asda

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