Asda has been grappling with shrinking sales in an increasingly competitive market as well as availability problems and declining store standards. Its grocery market share fell to 12.6 per cent in February, according to Kantar data, from 14.8 per cent when the £6.8bn takeover by the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR completed in 2021.

Asda plans to spend more on reducing prices and improving product ranges for customers, but says its profits will suffer.