Asda cuts prices on 1,500 products in effort to halt sales slide
Asda has cut prices on 1,500 products as it attempts to stem a slide in sales with a price war that has wiped billions off the value of its rivals.
The UK's third biggest supermarket said the latest wave of price cuts, on products including Cathedral City cheddar cheese and Head & Shoulders shampoo, meant it had reduced prices on nearly 10,000 products since the end of January.
The retailer will cut prices by 22% on average, with some items reduced by almost 45%, although other products will be cut by no more than 16%.
Allan Leighton, the chair of Asda, said the retailer intended to 'continue to invest in lowering prices across the rest of the year and beyond'.
The chain's listed rivals – Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer – had £4bn wiped off their stock market values after Asda said last week that its profits were likely to decline this year as it invested more in cutting prices and putting more staff in shops.
'Last week we signalled again our absolute commitment to lowering prices for customers, and today we're further delivering on that promise. By rolling back prices on thousands more products we're making it even easier for our customers to save,' Leighton said.
Shares in Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer have recovered slightly this week but were largely unmoved on Friday, and the value of the trio is collectively £3.9bn less than a week ago.
Analysts said Tesco and Sainsbury's profits would probably be squeezed by having to lower prices to compete and face a tougher job to win over shoppers.
'The market has clearly taken this as the first salvo of an industry price war,' Clive Black, a retail analyst at Shore Capital, said.
Asda said on Friday that the price of a 165g tub of Philadelphia soft cheese will be reduced by 44%, or 92p, to £1.16. The price of a pack of Asda Little Angels nappies is down by 16%, or 67p, to £3.58.
The group, once known to lead the market on fuel prices, last week signalled its intent with a 4p-a-litre cut to petrol and diesel at its forecourts. However, average pump prices across the industry will come down by at least 6p a litre for petrol and 3p a litre for diesel in the coming weeks, the RAC motoring group said.
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As it battles IT problems and hefty debt payments resulting from a £6.8bn takeover deal in 2021, Asda has lost more than a percentage point of market share in the past year, according to the industry analysts Kantar, a figure that represents sales worth millions of pounds.
There is some scepticism about Asda's ability to win over more shoppers with price cuts, given the bigger scale of its rivals and their hi-tech loyalty schemes and also the growth of the smaller, cheaper rivals Aldi and Lidl.
Black said visits to stores this week showed Asda had plenty more to fix beyond prices – including product availability and store cleanliness. 'The job of work is considerable and it will not be a quick fix,' he said.
Leighton has said it will take up to five years to turn around Asda, which is controlled by the private equity group TDR Capital, the Blackburn billionaire Mohsin Issa and the US grocer Walmart.
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