Asda, owned by Blackburn's billionaire Issa brothers, saw its total revenues, excluding fuel, increase by 6.6 per cent to £5.3 billion in the first three months of this year.

Its like-for-like sales were up 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.

Its George children's wear and fashion brand grew clothing revenues by three per cent to £293 million.

Asda - the UK's third largest supermarket chain - was bought by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa in 2021.

Its quarter-one results for 2024 showed that its online grocery division continued to perform well representing 18 per cent of food sales, driven by a 5.6 per cent increase in the number of average weekly orders.

Mohsin Issa, Asda’s co-owner, said: “Asda made good progress against its strategy in the quarter, laying the foundations for long-term success – including completing the conversion of our newly acquired sites to Asda Express, as part of our strategic expansion into the growth markets of convenience and food-to-go.

"We did this while continuing to deliver great range, value and convenience, including investing in lower prices and the quality of our food and non-food at a time when the household budgets of our customers remain under pressure.

“George at Asda again outperformed the value market in fashion and homewares, and it is very encouraging to see our investment in the brand bearing fruit both online and in stores.

"Customers also responded positively to our ongoing investment in the Asda Rewards loyalty scheme, which now has around six million regular users, and online grocery where we are firmly established as the number two player in the market.

"I want to sincerely thank all of our colleagues for their hard work over the quarter, as we remain committed to doing the right thing by them, our customers and the local communities which we serve.”