Leeds-based Asda has reported a 2.5% decline in total revenues excluding fuel to £5.3 billion for the third quarter ending September 30.

Asda said third quarter like-for-like sales declined 4.8% “representing an improvement on the previous quarter this financial year.”

The company — now 67.5% owned by London private equity firm TDR Capital — also updated on its plans and investment to “improve the shopping experience for customers during the ‘Golden Quarter’.”

The Leeds firm said: “Asda’s focus on key priorities outlined at the Q2 trading update – improving availability, enhancing the customer experience and investing in value – supported by an additional £30m investment in store hours, is already making a difference, with customer perceptions of availability improving noticeably both in stores and online in Q3.

“To drive further improvements, Asda is investing a further £13m in store hours during Q4 to ensure more colleagues are on hand to support customers during the busy ‘Golden Quarter’ period.”

Asda chairman Stuart Rose said: “We have undergone the largest transformation in our history during the last three years – doubling our store footprint, expanding into strategically important growth markets of convenience and food-to-go, and overhauling our digital capabilities.

“We have laid solid foundations to drive long term growth, but the unprecedented scale of these changes has absorbed a huge amount of the leadership’s time with a temporary impact on Asda’s customer experience in stores.

“As a key priority, we have been investing further and taking the right decisions to deliver an enhanced and more consistent in-store experience for our customers, as we set out in our Q2 results in August.

“Now it is time to deliver the best possible experience in our stores day-in-day out – and pull out all the stops for customers this Christmas and beyond. I would like to thank all our colleagues sincerely for their hard work and ongoing dedication.”