Asda boss says ‘plenty to do’ in turnaround after sales drop
The boss of Asda has said he has “plenty to do” to complete his turnaround of the firm after sales and earnings slumped.
The supermarket giant, the UK’s third largest, took £21bn of sales excluding fuel in 2025, down by 3.3 per cent, while adjusted earnings tumbled by a third to £764m.
Asda’s executive chair Allan Leighton last month blamed Labour for piling costs on retailers, saying governments have become “more and more difficult” to deal with since he began his career.
Announcing the supermarket’s 2025 results on Friday, the chairman said sales declined 2.4 per cent at the end of last year.
The company saw like-for-like sales slump in the first two months of this year – by 1.6 per cent in January and one per cent in February.
But sales have picked up this month, having grown by 1.2 per cent in March so far.
Asda turnaround ‘no quick fix’
Leighton, who is running the firm in the absence of a chief executive, returned in 2024 after previously being in charge in the 1990s.
He has been charged with returning the firm to profitability, with the supermarket having struggled since its £6.8bn debt-fuelled takeover by TDR Capital and the billionaire Issa brothers.
On an earnings call shortly before his appointment, Leighton warned the turnaround would take time: “This is not about a quick fix.”
Last year, Asda admitted that its bungled £1bn IT upgrade had set back its recovery by six months.
Leighton said on Friday: “There is plenty to do but there is also plenty of upside. We have that momentum and a strong balance sheet to allow us to push forward.”
“As we enter the second year of our turnaround, we have an improved customer offer, stable core systems, a strengthened balance sheet and a strong leadership team to deliver our formula for growth.
“Our progress in key areas like price, availability, and customer satisfaction is edging forwards, reflected in positive like-for-like sales growth in our stores for the last two months.”
Reeves petrol profiteering claims ‘nonsense’
Leighton also took aim at chancellor Rachel Reeves on Friday, labelling her concerns that petrol retailers may be profiteering from the Iran war as “nonsense”.
Asda, as well as operating around 1,000 supermarkets in the UK, runs more than 300 petrol stations, often housed on its superstore sites.
Asda was bought by US retailer Walmart for £6.7bn in 1999, before being sold to the billionaire Issa brothers and British equity firm TDR Capital in 2021, with Walmart retaining an equity stake and a board seat.
The supermarket chairman said “you don’t have to be Einstein” to know that forecourt operators have not been using the conflict to hike prices.
He told the Financial Times: “Government has a big role to play and it stands there pointing fingers at everybody. It’s total camouflage.”