Asda grows profit as loyalty scheme drives supermarket sales to nearly £22billion

Asda has revealed its underlying earnings swelled by a quarter last year

Asda has reported a robust increase in profits, attributing the success to its popular loyalty scheme which has boosted supermarket sales.

The retail giant saw its underlying earnings soar by 24% to £1.1billion in 2023, outperforming the previous year. The UK’s third-largest supermarket chain enjoyed a 5.4% rise in like-for-like supermarket sales, a figure that strips out the effect of new store openings over the year.

Total sales, excluding fuel, reached nearly £22billion, with Asda attributing much of this growth to the approximately six million customers now using its loyalty app. Remarkably, half of all sales are now linked to the Asda Rewards programme, which has become a “key revenue driver” for the company.

In addition to food, the group, which includes the fashion retailer George, also saw clothing sales climb by 3.4%, totalling £1.5billion. Co-owner Mohsin Issa highlighted the company’s strategic moves, saying: “We continue to strengthen the business by expanding in the growing convenience and food-to-go sectors, leveraging our loyalty app and driving innovation in online grocery where we are the UK’s second-largest supermarket.”

1. These financial update come as reports surface that Zuber Issa, Mohsin’s brother, is preparing to divest his share in Asda to the private equity firm TDR Capital. The Issa brothers teamed up with TDR Capital three years ago to acquire Asda.