Leeds-based Asda, a subsidiary of US retail giant Walmart, said its comparable sales declined 2.9% in the fourth quarter ending December 31, excluding petrol.

But the figures showed an improvement in Asda’s performance on the previous quarter, in which comparable sales declined 5.8%.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said: “In the UK, we faced some challenges this past year and we’re addressing this with urgency.

“I’m glad comp store sales improved during the fourth quarter, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Asda CEO Sean Clarke said: “We are encouraged by the early signs of our customers responding positively to the hard work that’s been happening in our stores throughout 2016, which saw us welcome over 140,000 customers back to Asda this last quarter.”