Consumers are confused and concerned after the autumn Budget, and it remains unclear whether this will affect Christmas spending.

Leighton cautioned that consumer confidence and spending could be influenced by the Budget, but the Christmas impact is not yet determineable.

Asda is facing a roughly $1 billion IT upgrade disruption that stalled stock movement between depots and stores, leading to inconsistent online and in-store availability and contributing to a sales dip in the third quarter of 2025.

Leighton noted that autumn Budget mood is weighing on consumer sentiment, with uncertainty about Christmas spending but too early to tell the full impact.

Industry data show Asda’s sales fell about 3.9% year-on-year over the 12 weeks to early November, with market share dipping to around 11.6%.

ownership by TDR Capital, with Walmart retaining a 10% stake, facilitated Leighton’s return as CEO last year.

CEO Allan Leighton says the issues set the business back about six months, but availability has returned to June levels and performance is improving; however, targets for Q2 2025 aren’t expected to be reached until Q2 2026.

Leighton emphasized that availability is back to June levels, operational issues are easing, and performance is improving, yet full recovery to the Q2 2025 position will take until mid-2026.

Chief executive Allan Leighton attributed the sales decline to the Walmart-system transition, noting a three-month period of poor customer experience and disrupted digital channels in August.

The company completed the IT transition in Q3 2025 but estimates the disruption set the business back about six months, with normalization not expected until Q2 2026.

Like-for-like sales for the quarter ended September 30 declined by 2.8%, after a 0.2% drop in the prior quarter.

Asda warns that underlying sales growth won’t return until mid-2026 due to the disruption from separating its IT systems from Walmart.

Although the IT transition was completed in Q3 2025, the disruption affected customer experience, app and website performance, and home-delivery sales in August.

Overall, the company says a renewed focus on pricing and supply reliability signals steps toward recovery, with a cautious near-term outlook for growth and consumer spending.

Leighton has warned that pricing 5% to 10% cheaper than rivals could materially reduce annual profit.

Market reaction saw a temporary negative impact on Tesco and Sainsbury’s shares amid fears of a price war, though those peers have since rebounded.

Asda continues price reductions to drive growth and defend market share against rivals like Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl amid higher food inflation and cautious consumer sentiment.