The CEO of Asda, Andy Clarke, has said that he is “here to stay” despite “unprecedented” poor results in the company’s second quarter.
The sales decline accelerated from a 3.9% like-for-like fall in the first three months of the year to 4.7% in the second quarter, the Wal-Mart-owned supermarket’s biggest sales fall in five years.
Mr Clarke said that 2015 was always going to be a “volatile” year and said that he never expected to report a positive sales figure. However, he added that he was “not distracted by the short term picture”.
“We have an enviably stable business with balanced books and the right strategy to return us to sales growth.” he added. This strategy includes a five-year plan which was put into action in 2013 to cut prices by £1 billion.
