Walmart-owned supermarket Asda has reported another drop in quarterly sales, but the rate of decline has slowed.
Sales excluding fuel at stores open for more than a year fell by 2.9% in the three months to 31 December 2016. However, the results are better than previous quarters: in the three months to October 2016 the company posted a 5.8% decline in sales and in the three months to June sales fell by 7.5%.
Walmart chief executive Doug McMillion said: “In the UK, we faced some challenges this past year and we’re addressing these with urgency. We’re encouraged that comp store sales improved during the fourth quarter. I visited stores in the market a few weeks ago and we are pointed in the right direction.”
Walmart chief financial officer Brett Biggs said: “We have a lot of work to do in this market, but we’re encouraged by early signs of traction with improvements in the customer value proposition.”
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