British supermarket chain Asda, which is owned by Walmart, reported a sixth straight quarter of underlying sales growth on Thursday, boosted by strong sales of own label products.
Asda agreed in April to a £7.3 billion (€8.3 billion) cash and shares takeover by Sainsbury's - a combination that could overtake Tesco as Britain's biggest supermarket group if it is approved by the competition regulator.
Like-for-like sales rose 2.0% in its fiscal third quarter to 30 September, Asda said. That compares to a rise of 0.4% in the previous quarter, or a 2.6% increase adjusted for Easter.
Competitive Grocery Market
Asda cautioned that its gross profit rate declined, reflecting price cuts in a highly competitive grocery market.
"We were pleased to welcome an additional 115,000 customers through our doors and outperform the market for the second quarter running," said chief executive Roger Burnley.
The deal with Sainsbury's is being examined by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which said last month it expected to issue provisional findings early next year.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
