Sales falls and lower profits at supermarket Asda in 2016 have been revealed in detail in newly-filed accounts.The figures for the Walmart-owned supermarket, filed at Companies House, confirm a torrid spell for Asda as it faced stiff competition in the grocery sector.Like-for-like sales were down 5.7% compared with the previous year.Pre-tax profits dropped almost 19% to £791.7m at the Leeds-based company.”The grocery market has continued to experience low growth throughout the year and competition in the sector has remained intense. Our sales performance, relative to the market, was behind our expectations,” the company said.ChangesAsda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – the so-called big four UK supermarkets – have suffered as German discounters Aldi and Lidl have eaten into their market share in recent years.Asda has suffered more than most. In May, it reported decreasing sales in the first quarter of 2017 – the 11th consecutive quarter of falls – as it continued to lose ground to its rivals.However, Asda added that despite the disappointing results, there had been an improvement following “strategic changes” under new boss Sean Clarke.Mr Clarke, who replaced previous chief executive Andy Clarke a year ago, has slashed the prices of everyday items as he attempts to arrest falling sales.The chain reported a 2.8% fall in like-for-like sales in its first quarter of this year, a moderate improvement on the previous period, which saw sales fall 2.9%.
Source: BBC News