Sales at Wal-Mart's U.K. Business Asda Fall Nearly 5%
August 18 2015 - 8:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Saabira Chaudhuri
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s U.K. arm Asda reported a 4.7% fall in
same-store sales in the second quarter, as the company continued to
be hammered by a change in customer behavior and a vicious price
war that has buffeted the U.K.'s largest grocers.
Asda, which vies with J Sainsbury PLC, for the position of
Britain's second-largest grocer, has lost market share lately, as
German rivals Aldi and Lidl have stepped up their game in the
U.K.
Tuesday, Asda Chief Executive Andy Clarke called the results
"disappointing, but a short-term picture." He said Asda "won't get
sidetracked by the short-term fixes that are saturating the
supermarket industry."
In 2013, Asda laid out a GBP1 billion ($1.6 billion) plan to
lower prices and said it would pump GBP250 million into improving
quality. It also has been working to developing its click and
collection locations, allowing people to order online and pick up
in person.
The results come as parent company Wal-Mart on Tuesday cut its
earnings guidance for the year and gave a soft outlook for the
current quarter as wage increases and investments in its struggling
U.S. business pressured profit at the world's largest retailer.
Net sales at Wal-Mart's international business dropped 9.6% to
$30.6 billion, although stripping out currency impacts they climbed
2.8%.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2015 08:10 ET (12:10 GMT)
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