Asda has become the UK’s most expensive supermarket for fuel, according to new analysis.
The RAC reported that, at the end of May, rival supermarkets Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s sold petrol for an average of 2.1p less per litre than Asda. The price difference for diesel was even greater, at 2.5p per litre.
The RAC noted that Asda had long been known for offering the cheapest fuel, often leading the way in cutting pump prices.
In 2021, Asda was acquired by the billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity firm TDR Capital. When Asda purchased the UK and Irish operations of petrol station giant EG Group, owned by the Issa brothers, in May last year, Mohsin Issa claimed the deal would enable Asda to offer “highly competitive fuel” to more customers.
However, a report published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in July last year revealed that Asda’s target fuel margin—the difference between what it paid for fuel and the pump price—was three times higher for 2023 compared to 2019.
Despite this, TDR Capital managing director Gary Lindsay told the Commons’ Business and Trade Committee in January that Asda did not have a strategy to increase fuel prices or to make a larger profit on fuel.
