The loss at its parent company came after Asda said its finance costs had risen 38% to £611m as a result of higher interest rates. The group said it had £4.9bn in external debts with further liabilities, including £3.8bn in leases and a £500m shareholder loan.
Asda has faced persistent challenges since its £6.8 billion debt-fuelled acquisition by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers in 2021. The takeover has made it difficult for the supermarket to compete with lower-priced rivals, particularly as it grapples with rising costs and mounting competitive pressure.
Asda have been accused of 'spying' on customers after rolling out a new initiative to tackle shoplifting. The major supermarket has faced backlash for using live facial recognition cameras.
What happened? Two Muslim brothers hailing from Blackburn have agreed, as part of a consortium, to buy a majority stake in Asda. They partnered up with TDR Capital – a private equity firm – to make the successful bid of £6.8bn.
Asda has already made a series of management changes, including a major round of redundancies announced in March. The supermarket folded the management of its IPL sourcing and logistics division into its central management function.
How much does ASDA in London, England pay? The average ASDA salary ranges from approximately £16,262 per year for Retail Sales Associate to £88,909 per year for Director. Average ASDA hourly pay ranges from approximately £12.55 per hour for Sales Assistant to £13.78 per hour for Service Associate.
TDR Capital became the majority owner of Asda towards the end of 2024. Asda is now under the majority control of private equity giant TDR Capital after billionaire Zuber Issa sold his shares in the supermarket giant.
Mohsin Issa was born in July 1971, and Zuber Issa in June 1972 in Blackburn, Lancashire in North West England into an Indian Gujarati Muslim family to parents Vali and Zubeda who came to the United Kingdom from Bharuch, Gujarat, India in the 1960s to work in the textile industry, and then ran a petrol station.
In February 2021, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital acquired Asda, with Walmart retaining "an equity investment" in Asda, a seat on the board and "an ongoing commercial relationship". The deal came after an acquisition by Sainsbury's was rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority.
ASDA stands for Associated Dairies. The company was founded in 1949 when the supermarket-owning Asquith family merged with the Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire. It expanded into the south of England during the 1970s and 1980s.
Asda's debts were built up during its takeover by the billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity firm TDR Capital in 2021, which lumbered the company with billions in borrowings.
Consumers have been boycotting retailers and businesses for several reasons, including rollbacks by companies on their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and what some organizers have called corporate greed.
The pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement has been boycotting the company since late 2023. McDonald's has faced criticism over the past year, due to the company's decision to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Our research highlights several ethical issues with Asda, including allegations of gender discrimination, a lack of animal welfare policies, and inadequate climate action plans.
Morrisons was saddled with huge borrowings after it was acquired by US buyout group Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R) in 2021. The cost of servicing that debt soared as interest rates rocketed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year later.
But the UK's most popular supermarket - with the biggest market share - expects profits to be lower next year amid what its chief executive described as an "intensification of competition" in the UK. Tesco's profits rose £299m from a year earlier to £3.128bn despite cutting 400 jobs in January.
The surname Lidl, of Bavarian origin, derives from the archaic term “Liedel,” referring to small agricultural plots—a nod to its rural roots. World War II halted the company's expansion, but its resurgence in 1973 under Dieter Schwarz, Josef's grandson, proved pivotal.
A group of Yorkshire farmers were responsible for writing the first chapter in the history of Asda when they formed Hindell's Dairies in the 1920s. After a successful period which saw them expand and diversify the company was floated in 1949 as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores Ltd.
In the words of a close family member, “Islam is always at the forefront” of everything the brothers do, who until now have built their £5 billion fortune in unison.
Founded in the 1960s in Yorkshire, Asda is one of Britain's leading retailers. Dedicated colleagues serve customers from our network of stores and online services, including supercentres, superstores, supermarkets, Living stores, petrol filling stations and depots across the UK.
Mohsin Issa remains a co-owner in Asda alongside TDR Capital. This brings the ownership of Asda to 67.5% by TDR Capital, 22.5% by Mohsin Issa, and 10% by Walmart Inc. The transaction is set to complete in Q3 2024.
In November last year, the company confirmed the redundancy of 475 staff and announced cuts to hybrid working opportunities. The May 2025 quarterly report also showed troubling financial trends, with Asda reporting a near 6 per cent drop in revenue, down to £5 billion for Q1.
We have partnered with Olio, which connects Olio's food waste heroes with their local Asda stores, who in turn share the food with their community free of charge.
Market share slipped to 11.8%, down from 12.7% a year earlier and well below the 15% recorded in 2021, when the chain was acquired in a debt-fuelled takeover by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers. The latest decline leaves Asda the only major UK supermarket to register falling sales in the period.
