Asda sales dip as supermarket charters cargo ship to ensure Christmas stock availability
Asda has reported a fall in underlying quarterly sales as it said it chartered its own cargo ship to ensure Christmas decorations and toys make it to UK shelves.
The supermarket, owned by the billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital, said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, fell 0.7 per cent year-on-year in the three months to 30 September.
Asda blamed this drop on the comparable period last year, when sales were buoyed by Covid social distancing restrictions, which led to more meals being consumed at home.
The supermarket said it had chartered its own cargo ship to “protect the availability of key festive products including festive decorations, toys, clothing and gifts.”
Other measures implemented to protect festive stock include “increasing the volume of turkeys and pigs in blankets in store compared to last year.”
The company said it had also built “extra stock of festive products in depots such as mince pies, confectionery, Christmas cakes and puddings.”
It comes after supermarket bosses have had to reassure customers of stock availability following supply chain issues.
Like-for-like sales were up 2.0 per cent on the same period in 2019 while total third-quarter revenue was £4.93bn.
The supermarket said it had recruited 15,000 temporary workers for the festive period.