Bangladesh's Mushfiqur declines to visit Pakistan

Highlights

• Asda sales fall 3.8 per cent to £5.1 bn in three months to September, with comparable store sales down 2.8 per cent.
• Chair Allan Leighton blames IT system problems from separating technology from former owner Walmart.
• Leighton criticises government for hampering business investment and depressing consumer sentiment.

Total sales at Britain's third-largest supermarket fell 3.8 per cent to £5.1 bn in the three months ending September compared with the same period last year, reversing 0.2 per cent growth from the previous quarter. Comparable store sales dropped 2.8 per cent.

Chair Allan Leighton, who returned last year to revive the business for a second time, told the guardian that the fall in sales and market share was "totally self-inflicted." The supermarket struggled with technology issues during a lengthy effort to separate IT systems from former owner Walmart.