UK retailer Asda has seen adjusted like-for-like sales growth of 0.8 per cent through the first quarter of the year, with unadjusted sales – which do not take into account the later Easter period this year – up by 0.1 per cent.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which owns Asda, revealed that Asda's operating income for the period ended 31 March 2011 dropped from the previous year, primarily the result of a charge for the closure of its defined benefit pension plan, as well as acquisition costs for Netto.
'Andy Clarke and the Asda team had a solid start to the year, growing sales in the first quarter of this year,' Walmart International president and CEO Doug McMillan told analysts.
'Our team in the UK completed its purchase of the 147 Netto stores from Dansk Supermarked in April 2011, which falls in our second fiscal quarter,' McMillan continued. 'We expect to complete the in-store conversions this year, investing more than £100m (€114m) and creating more than 1,500 jobs.'
Asda pointed to the success of its private brands, with its Extra Special and Chosen by you brands ranked by industry analyst Kantar Worldpanel as the fastest growing private labels across the top four UK grocery retailers (Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco).
Over the course of the past 12 months (up to 31 March 2011) Asda launched 12 new stores, taking its overall UK network to 386 outlets.
Meanwhile, the retailer has announced that it is embarking on the next phase of its food quality investment programme, allocating some £27m (€31m) to improve its fresh food business.
'Through a combination of significantly more quality controls on our farms and in our depots, and by removing unnecessary middle-men along the way, we've been able to enhance the quality of our fresh food and keep prices low,' said Asda president and CEO Andy Clarke.
No comments yet