Latest news with #Leighton
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
UK supermarket Asda seeing 'green shoots' of recovery
The boss of British supermarket Asda said he was seeing "green shoots" of recovery after the group slowed the rate of its sales decline in its first quarter, helped by lower prices and better product availability. Asda, Britain's third largest food retailer after Tesco and Sainsbury's, said like-for-like sales in the four months to April 30, adjusted to include Easter trading, declined by 3.1% - an improvement on the 4.2% fall in the previous quarter. Asda said it had seen further improvements in May. "Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go," executive chairman Allan Leighton said. Private equity firm TDR Capital, Asda's majority owner, brought Leighton back to the grocer in November, more than two decades after he served as CEO and turned the chain around before selling it to Walmart. In March, Leighton warned his plan to be 5% to 10% cheaper than rivals would "materially reduce" profit. His comment hit the shares of Tesco and Sainsbury's on fears of a price war. Asda said it had cut the prices of about 10,000 products, more than a third of its range, establishing a price gap of 3% to 6% over its full-service supermarket rivals. It said product availability had increased from 90% to 95% since January, while customer satisfaction had also improved. "People who've been in the industry a long time are amazed at the progress that we've made on availability in a relatively short period of time," Leighton told reporters. Industry data published earlier this week showed Asda's sales fell 3.2% over the 12 weeks to May 18 year-on-year, with the group's market share down 90 basis points to 12.1%.
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Asda boss says ‘long way to go' in turnaround as sales fall further
However, Allan Leighton, who recently rejoined the UK's third largest grocery chain after more than 20 years, said it has seen 'green shoots' in its turnaround efforts. The retailer, owned by US private equity firm TDR Capital and petrol forecourt billionaire Mohsin Issa, previously said it could take between three and five years to get fully back on track. Industry figures released earlier this week showed Asda's share of the grocery market has shrunk to 12.1% – it's lowest since Kantar started collecting data in 2011. The firm has struggled to keep up with larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's and come under pressure from fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl since its debt-fuelled takeover in 2021. On Thursday, Mr Leighton said the retailer's 'prices were too high and availability was woeful' before his appointment, leading shoppers to switch. Earlier this year, the company reduced the prices of more than 10,000 products in its renewed strategy to win over shoppers. Bosses said the retailer will still follow through with ambitions to keep pricing low across rafts of products despite accelerating food inflation. The company said it hopes to win back customers across the board but can benefit from bringing its pricing 'closer' to low-priced discounter rivals. Mr Leighton 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. 'Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focused on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.' It came as the Leeds-based retailer reported that total revenues, excluding fuel, fell by 5.9% to £5 billion for the first three months of 2025. The company said this included a 1.1% impact against last year's extra day trading due to the leap year. Asda added that like-for-like sales were 3.1% lower for the four months to Easter and this improved further in May.
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Asda boss says ‘long way to go' in turnaround as sales fall further
However, Allan Leighton, who recently rejoined the UK's third largest grocery chain after more than 20 years, said it has seen 'green shoots' in its turnaround efforts. The retailer, owned by US private equity firm TDR Capital and petrol forecourt billionaire Mohsin Issa, previously said it could take between three and five years to get fully back on track. Industry figures released earlier this week showed Asda's share of the grocery market has shrunk to 12.1% – it's lowest since Kantar started collecting data in 2011. The firm has struggled to keep up with larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's and come under pressure from fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl since its debt-fuelled takeover in 2021. On Thursday, Mr Leighton said the retailer's 'prices were too high and availability was woeful' before his appointment, leading shoppers to switch. Earlier this year, the company reduced the prices of more than 10,000 products in its renewed strategy to win over shoppers. Bosses said the retailer will still follow through with ambitions to keep pricing low across rafts of products despite accelerating food inflation. The company said it hopes to win back customers across the board but can benefit from bringing its pricing 'closer' to low-priced discounter rivals. Mr Leighton 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. 'Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focused on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.' It came as the Leeds-based retailer reported that total revenues, excluding fuel, fell by 5.9% to £5 billion for the first three months of 2025. The company said this included a 1.1% impact against last year's extra day trading due to the leap year. Asda added that like-for-like sales were 3.1% lower for the four months to Easter and this improved further in May.
North Wales Chronicle
5 days ago
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Asda boss says ‘long way to go' in turnaround as sales fall further
However, Allan Leighton, who recently rejoined the UK's third largest grocery chain after more than 20 years, said it has seen 'green shoots' in its turnaround efforts. The retailer, owned by US private equity firm TDR Capital and petrol forecourt billionaire Mohsin Issa, previously said it could take between three and five years to get fully back on track. Industry figures released earlier this week showed Asda's share of the grocery market has shrunk to 12.1% – it's lowest since Kantar started collecting data in 2011. The firm has struggled to keep up with larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's and come under pressure from fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl since its debt-fuelled takeover in 2021. On Thursday, Mr Leighton said the retailer's 'prices were too high and availability was woeful' before his appointment, leading shoppers to switch. Earlier this year, the company reduced the prices of more than 10,000 products in its renewed strategy to win over shoppers. Bosses said the retailer will still follow through with ambitions to keep pricing low across rafts of products despite accelerating food inflation. The company said it hopes to win back customers across the board but can benefit from bringing its pricing 'closer' to low-priced discounter rivals. Mr Leighton 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. 'Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focused on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.' It came as the Leeds-based retailer reported that total revenues, excluding fuel, fell by 5.9% to £5 billion for the first three months of 2025. The company said this included a 1.1% impact against last year's extra day trading due to the leap year. Asda added that like-for-like sales were 3.1% lower for the four months to Easter and this improved further in May.
Rhyl Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Asda boss says ‘long way to go' in turnaround as sales fall further
However, Allan Leighton, who recently rejoined the UK's third largest grocery chain after more than 20 years, said it has seen 'green shoots' in its turnaround efforts. The retailer, owned by US private equity firm TDR Capital and petrol forecourt billionaire Mohsin Issa, previously said it could take between three and five years to get fully back on track. Industry figures released earlier this week showed Asda's share of the grocery market has shrunk to 12.1% – it's lowest since Kantar started collecting data in 2011. The firm has struggled to keep up with larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's and come under pressure from fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl since its debt-fuelled takeover in 2021. On Thursday, Mr Leighton said the retailer's 'prices were too high and availability was woeful' before his appointment, leading shoppers to switch. Earlier this year, the company reduced the prices of more than 10,000 products in its renewed strategy to win over shoppers. Bosses said the retailer will still follow through with ambitions to keep pricing low across rafts of products despite accelerating food inflation. The company said it hopes to win back customers across the board but can benefit from bringing its pricing 'closer' to low-priced discounter rivals. Mr Leighton 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. 'Although we are seeing the green shoots in sales performance, there is a long way to go, and we remain firmly focused on widening the price gap over other full-service supermarkets to give customers the savings they expect every time they shop at Asda.' It came as the Leeds-based retailer reported that total revenues, excluding fuel, fell by 5.9% to £5 billion for the first three months of 2025. The company said this included a 1.1% impact against last year's extra day trading due to the leap year. Asda added that like-for-like sales were 3.1% lower for the four months to Easter and this improved further in May.
