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| Asda sales fall over Christmas period | Asda sales fall over Christmas period |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Supermarket Asda has seen sales fall 5.8% during the three months that include Christmas - its fifth quarterly sales fall in a row. | Supermarket Asda has seen sales fall 5.8% during the three months that include Christmas - its fifth quarterly sales fall in a row. |
| The chain, which is owned by US retailing giant Walmart, saw sales fall 4.7% over the year as a whole. | The chain, which is owned by US retailing giant Walmart, saw sales fall 4.7% over the year as a whole. |
| Parent company Walmart also reported falling profits. Net income for the fourth quarter fell 7.9% to $4.57bn. | Parent company Walmart also reported falling profits. Net income for the fourth quarter fell 7.9% to $4.57bn. |
| Andy Clarke, president and chief executive of Asda, said 2015 had been a "difficult year". | Andy Clarke, president and chief executive of Asda, said 2015 had been a "difficult year". |
| Asda's figures contrast with those of the other "big four" UK supermarkets. Morrisons and Tesco both beat forecasts while Sainsbury, the weakest, saw sales fall just 0.4% over the fourth quarter, which includes the vital Christmas period. | |
| Discounters Aldi and Lidl, are both thriving and expanding fast. | |
| Mr Clarke said the UK retail market was undergoing "significant and permanent structural change". | |
| He said competition had been fierce and that Asda's market share had come under pressure. Bearing that in mind, he said results for the year had been "commendably stable". | |
| Asda is competing hard on price and concentrating less on one-off promotions. It decided not to participate in the retail discounting event, Black Friday, last November. | |
| The company forecast that 2016 was likely to be another tough and competitive year for the sector as a whole. | |
| Walmart challenge | |
| Parent firm Walmart, the biggest retailing chain in the world, is faring better than its UK subsidiary in terms of sales. | |
| Despite the steep fall in profits, Walmart's sales rose 0.6% over the fourth quarter, its sixth quarterly rise in a row. | |
| But Walmart trimmed its sales forecast for the year. It said it now expected sales to be flat. | |
| The company's shares fell 4% in pre-market trading. |