Asda’s losses widened sharply in 2025 as aggressive price reductions, restructuring costs and falling sales pushed the supermarket deeper into the red during the early stages of its turnaround plan.

The UK’s third-largest supermarket reported a pre-tax loss of £989m for the year, up 65% from a £599m loss in 2024 and one of the company’s largest annual losses in recent history.

Total sales fell 3.4% to £25.9bn as Asda continued to lose market share in an increasingly competitive grocery market. The retailer’s grocery share slipped to 11.5%, with discount rivals such as Lidl and Aldi continuing to gain ground.

The results are the first to fully take into account the impact of the return of executive chairman Allan Leighton.

The widening losses were driven partly by a strategy to cut prices in an effort to regain customers, with Asda aiming to become 5–10% cheaper than traditional supermarket competitors. The company also absorbed £656m of exceptional charges, including £284m linked to separating its IT systems from Walmart and a £344m non-cash property impairment.

Despite the headline loss, Asda is confident of the underlying strength of the business, citing £1.3bn in cash, £2.1bn in available liquidity and a £500m reduction in net debt to £3.1bn.

Privately owned by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, Asda has indicated its recovery plan could take up to five years.

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