Asda price guarantee boosts sales

Supermarket giant Asda has said the relaunch of its price guarantee helped sales rise 1.6% in the fourth quarter.

The UK’s second biggest grocery chain said the like-for-like sales hike for the three months to the end of January came as 800,000 customers took up its price comparison scheme since the start of 2011.

Sales including VAT rose 2.6%, it added.

Asda will share out a £26.9 million bonus pool among its staff as it said full-year profits grew ahead of sales.

The performance contributed towards a 14% leap in full-year profits at US parent Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart reported net income of 16.4 billion US dollars (£10.1 billion), helped by a 27% surge in the fourth quarter.

Asda’s sales performance follows a “good Christmas” for the group as it bounces back after six months of declining sales in the first and second quarters.

It improved its Asda Price Guarantee at the turn of the year, pledging to sell groceries at least 10% cheaper than all of its major rivals, and has expanded product ranges.

Asda’s performance compares well with its “big four” competitors over the Christmas season, with bigger rival Tesco reporting a sales rise of 0.6% including VAT in its six-week festive period.

Andy Clarke, president and chief executive of Asda, said he was “pleased with the progress we’ve made in the last six months”.