Asda admits to ‘losing momentum’ as sales slide

Sales at Asda have continued to fall as the supermarket chain struggles to gain market share amid strong competition from rivals.

The private equity-backed group reported a 4.8 per cent decline in like-for-like sales in the three months to the end of September.

Lord Rose of Monewden, chairman of Asda, said: “I have to admit that we’ve probably not been as sharp on our trading stance as we should have been. We recognise that we have lost a bit of market share and a bit of momentum.”

Asda, the UK’s third-largest supermarket chain, held a 12.6 per cent share of the grocery market compared with 13.7 per cent a year earlier, according to summer figures from Kantar, the research consultancy. Over the last