WMT Walmart Inc

By Matteo Castia

Walmart Inc.'s U.K. business Asda Group Ltd. said Tuesday that comparable sales in the first quarter rose, as the pandemic and lockdown boosted e-commerce and trading at its smaller stores.

The retailer said quarterly like-for-like sales excluding petrol rose 3.5% year-on-year. As a consequence of the lockdown, e-commerce performed well, but demand for nonessential items dropped, it added.

"The supermarket also saw its smaller stores, located in the heart of communities, perform strongly as customers preferred to shop locally and avoid travel during the early weeks of lockdown," Asda said.

Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2020 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT)

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