Asda halts expansion plans as supermarket sector struggles

Asda has halted plans for expansion in London after reporting its worst quarterly results in 66 years.

The supermarket retailer has decided to slow down its plans for more convenience stores in the City and for more stand-alone petrol stations in an effort to cut costs. Asda had planned to have 1,000 click and collect points by 2018 and 100 stand-alone petrol station stores over the next five years.

Chief executive Andy Clarke said the group is trying to simplify the supermarket to focus on improving its "core business” of larger superstores.

Clarke said non-essential expansion will be put on hold but the company will go ahead with speeding up an already announced investment in 95 of its biggest stores.

The decision to halt expansion comes as the UK’s biggest supermarkets slash prices to keep up with growing competition from smaller discounters including Aldi and Lidl.