Separately, Asda parent Wal-Mart recorded a 1.3pc fall in total third quarter revenues to $117bn (£76.9bn) while profits slipped to $3.3bn compared to $3.7bn a year earlier. That was partly down to the strength of the dollar and the impact that had on translated overseas earnings.
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Waitrose and the Co-operative both managed to grow sales during the period, up by 2.7% and 1.5% respectively. However, the retailer admitted that was due to higher traffic in its stores, and customers were spending less per visit.
Walmart also continues to expect “relatively flat total sales growth for the year” at actual exchange rates. Across the whole of the market, sales were up just 0.5%, contained by the price war.
But sales fell at Tesco, down by 2.5 per cent, and Morrisons also saw a 1.7 per cent fall. That suggests it is now the worst-performing of the UK’s “Big Four” supermarkets.
By contrast, discounters Lidl and Aldi continue to enjoy strong sales growth and eat into the established players’ dominance.
“If you look back as recently as 2012 Aldi and Lidl only held a 5% share of the market, and it had previously taken them nine years to double their combined share from 2.5%”, said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
Lidl and Aldi’s rise to domination in the British grocery market has been pretty rapid.
Asda’s position as the poorest performer among Britain’s big four supermarkets in terms of sales was underlined as industry data showed it remained under pressure from the growth of discounters Aldi and Lidl and food price deflation.
Sainsbury’s is expected to hold on to second place for the next few months as it traditionally increases its market share over Christmas.
It compared with a 4.7% drop in the previous quarter that was the worst in its 50-year history and described as a “nadir” by chief executive Andy Clarke.
“I’m confident that by reinforcing our offer we can further extend our price advantage over major competitors and close the gap against the limited assortment discounters – not only on price, but across range, service and quality”.
While other supermarkets are struggling, Aldi and Lidl have plenty of cash to spend – and they’re investing in smarter, more convenient shops.
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The Asda boss stressed that, unlike its rivals, Asda has not had to make heavy write-downs on property or offload assets, drawing comparisons to Tesco’s sale of its South Korean business, Morrison’s convenience store disposals and Sainsbury’s deal with its Lloyds Pharmacy stores.
