MPs accused Mohsin Issa of «wasting time» during a parliamentary committee meeting on Asda fuel prices. The co-owner of aire was questioned by deputies over the cost of gasoline.
The grocer said it was cutting the price of commodities including fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen meats and prepared meals by an average of 9 percent.
Chris Comerford, Asda's commercial director, said: «We know families continue to struggle financially, especially as the summer break approaches, and are looking for help to further increase their grocery budget.
«Whenever there is an opportunity to help them earn more by lowering prices, we will continue to do so.»
It comes after Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa was criticized yesterday for an «extraordinary» speech to MPs who accused him of «wasting time» at a parliamentary committee meeting.
He was asked to appear before the deputies to answer questions about why drivers inflate prices at gas stations at the Asda station square.
Billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zub er Issa has come under fire for his business pricing strategy Credit: John Super
The session followed the Competition & The Markets Authority (CMA), which found that drivers paid £900m more than they should have paid for fuel at Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury's, as well as at Esso, Shell and BP.
Asda has been accused of playing a key role in price hikes by the competition watchdog, which said it changed its pricing policy to boost profits after the takeover of the Issa brothers.
Dan Turnbull of the CMA said yesterday that Asda has told the regulator that it has not changed its pricing policy. However, he said: “We found that between 2021 and 2023 they [Asda] significantly increased their internal pence per liter fuel margin targets, and indeed by 2023 those pence per liter targets were three times higher than in 2019.”
Mr Issa, along with his brother Zuber, bought the supermarket chain from Walmart in 2021 for £6.8bn in a debt deal.
Mr. Turnbull said the CMA also found that Asda deliberately decided to cut fuel prices, causing prices to decline at a slower pace than wholesale costs.
Mr. Iss was repeatedly asked if Asda had increased its fuel margin, to which he replied that the pricing policy had not changed.
Darren Jones MP, Chairman of Business & The Commerce Committee said yesterday: «We heard today that Asda prices have gone up, taxes have gone down, wages have come down, money is going through a very complex set of business structures and offshore companies, and you haven't answered any of our questions.» Asda said on Thursday its latest income tracker showed that four out of 10 of its customers are not making enough money to cover their bills.
Morrisons has previously suggested it is taking a larger margin on fuel to offer lower prices for its products as buyers face mounting cost-of-living pressure.
Kantar data earlier this week showed that food price inflation had begun to ease, dropping for the fourth month in a row, although it was still at 14.9%.
Kantar said lower inflation was partly due to more promotions for shoppers. However, he also said that this was due to the sharp increase in the past summer.
Fraser McKewitt said: «Prices rose rapidly last summer, so the latest slowdown is partly due to current numbers compared to those higher levels a year ago.»
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