Asda has unveiled its second quarter financial results for 2015, posting a 4.7% fall in like-for-like sales for the 11 weeks to June 30.
President and CEO Andy Clarke described the quarter’s number as “disappointing, but a short-term picture”.
He said: “We continue to navigate a steady course through the worst storm in retail history, despite another challenging quarter. Predicting that 2015 was going to be a volatile year I didn’t expect to report a positive sales figure, but I’m not distracted by the short-term picture. We have an enviably stable business with balanced books and the right strategy to return us to sales growth.”
Clarke and chief financial officer Alex Russo highlighted steps already being taken to accelerate the retailer’s five-year strategy including investments in service, stores and changes to maintain recent improvements in home shopping.
When it unveiled the five-year strategy the retailer said it planned to add 100 standalone forecourts to its business by 2018. In March it bought 15 sites from Rontec, and according to the latest figures from Experian Catalist it added 32 forecourts in the year to the end of June, although this figure includes sites attached to supermarkets.
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