Asda has reported a challenging third quarter as major IT disruption dragged down performance, though its growing Express estate continued to outperform the wider convenience market.
In a trading update for the three months to 30 September 2025, the retailer posted total revenues of £5.1bn (excluding fuel) and a 2.8 per cent decline in like-for-like sales. The drop follows severe operational disruption caused by the summer cutover from Project Future – the retailer’s multi-year programme to separate more than 2,500 legacy Walmart systems and migrate every part of the business onto Asda-owned platforms.
Executive chairman Allan Leighton said the system transition had a “material impact” on the business during Q3, affecting stock flow between depots and stores and leading to inconsistent availability on shelves and online.
The disruption was compounded by technical issues following the launch of Asda’s new website and app in August, which hurt the performance of its Grocery Home Shopping service.
“We said the cutover would likely have a negative impact on our performance,” Leighton said. “This change severely disrupted our systems and materially impacted our progress, as we saw a step-back to inconsistent availability, operational issues at depot and in-store and a poor customer experience online.”
However, Leighton stressed that the “worst of the disruption is now behind us”, with availability restored to over 95 per cent, matching eight-year highs previously achieved in June. He said operational issues were “reducing and performance in recent weeks is improving”, but warned Asda does not expect to return to its Q2 2025 performance levels until Q2 2026.
Convenience division outperforms the market
Despite the wider slowdown, Asda Express delivered a standout performance, with like-for-like sales up 3.5 per cent – outpacing the UK convenience sector.
The retailer has restarted its Express expansion programme and is targeting up to 20 new stores by the end of 2025, growing the estate to around 500 sites. Growth is focused on high-demand urban and transport locations where Asda has historically lacked presence.
New openings include Asda’s first convenience store in Liverpool city centre and a second site in central Manchester.
Asda is also pushing ahead with investment in its larger supermarkets. During Q3, the business rolled out a £12m refurbishment programme across key stores in Yorkshire and surrounding regions, including sites in Harrogate, York, Pudsey, Grimsby, and Stockton.
Each store is receiving a full shop-floor refresh, simplified layouts and new lighting, with all works scheduled for completion by early December to support peak-season trading.
Price investment continues despite pressure
The retailer said it maintained strong price investment throughout the quarter, despite continued inflationary pressures across the grocery sector. More than half of all products have seen price reductions since January under the Rollback to Asda Price initiative.
Leighton reiterated the retailer’s long-term ambition to turn Asda around within three to five years, pointing to early progress in the first half of 2025 before the Q3 disruption.
“We made good progress in the first half of the year against our ‘Formula for Growth’ with the best availability in eight years, a notable price gap versus competitors and a return to like-for-like growth,” he noted.