Supermarket Asda has said it eked out quarterly food sales growth for the first time in more than two years, as it said investment in prices was paying off.
The Leeds-based group reported a slight 0.1% fall in overall group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, at £5.1 billion for the three months to the end of September.
But same-store food sales returned to growth for the first time since 2024, edging up by 0.1%, while online grocery jumped 6.9% and its Asda Express convenience chain reported 2.7% growth.
This marked a sharp reversal of trading in the second quarter, when group like-for-like sales fell 2.3%, and food sales dropped 1.9% for 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 aggressively cutting prices in a bid to restore its fortunes.
The group earlier this month hired former Morrisons boss David Potts as its new chief executive to help take revival efforts forwards.
Former boss Allan Leighton became non-executive chairman, two years after he returned to head the firm.
While cutting prices has helped the firm, it has also impacted its bottom line.
This, with a botched IT upgrade last year which hit product availability and dented sales, meant the group tumbled to a £989 million pre-tax loss for 2025, widened from losses of £599 million a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were also down 33% to £761 million for the year, partly because of its Asda Price and Rollback price investment.
