Asda bosses insist they’re constructing a ‘greater and higher’ grocery store

Asda bosses insisted they are building a ‘bigger and better’ supermarket as they published figures showing it is back in the black despite haemorrhaging market share.

Once Britain’s second biggest supermarket, it has struggled since its £6.8billion private equity takeover three years ago and this month hit its lowest ever slice of the market.

But it insisted a revival is under way and yesterday said it returned to profit last year.

It said it made £180m in pre-tax profits compared to losses of £432m in 2022.

And it has formally filed its accounts to Companies House.

Brighter future?: Once Britain’s second biggest supermarket, Asda has struggled since its £6.8billion private equity takeover three years ago

Chief financial officer Michael Gleeson said: ‘We are investing to build a bigger and better Asda. Our priority remains growing the business for the long-term through diversifying our offering to ensure customers can shop with us when and how it best suits them.’

The comments came just days after data from industry research firm Kantar showed Asda holds a 12.8 per cent share.

This is the lowest it has been since the group started releasing the figures in 2011. It is a dramatic fall from the 13.7 per cent it held a year ago. It has lost ground to rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s as well as discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Asda’s huge debt pile was sitting at £3.8billion at the end of the first quarter of 2024.