Asda has said a botched £1 billion IT upgrade which hit product availability on shelves has set the business back “by six months” amid efforts to turn around its fortunes.

Boss Allan Leighton, who returned to the supermarket chain last year, said its sales slump over the past three months was “self-inflicted” due to disruption from the transition from a previous system linked to former owner Walmart.

It came as the boss also cautioned that consumers are “confused and concerned” following the autumn Budget .

On Friday, Asda revealed that like-for-like sales slid by 2.8% over the third quarter of 2025 after facing “severe disruption” linked to the IT transition.

Asda had been separating more than 2,500 legacy IT systems and moving them on to its own platforms since being sold by Walma

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