Asda sales fall in latest quarter

Asda, the British supermarket arm of U.S. retail giant Walmart, said underlying sales growth dipped in its latest quarter, partly reflecting the later timing of Easter this year.

The group, whose attempt to be taken over by rival Sainsbury's was blocked by Britain's regulator last month, said on Thursday its like-for-like sales fell 1.1% in its fiscal first quarter. That compares with a rise of 1% in the previous quarter and ends a run of seven straight quarters of growth.