Britain’s Asda to invest over 73 million stg in prices

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A woman pushes a shopping cart at an Asda superstore at the Gateshead Metrocentre, in Gateshead, Britain, March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Lee Smith

LONDON (Reuters) – Against a backdrop of soaring inflation in Britain’s food retail sector, supermarket group Asda said on Monday it would invest more than 73 million pounds ($93.4 million) to keep the prices of essential items low this year.

Asda, owned since February last year by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity company TDR Capital, said it has cut the prices of over 100 items and “locked in” those prices until the end of 2022.

Britain’s third largest supermarket after Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Sainsbury’s also said that from July it will increase the pay of its shop floor workers to 10.10 pounds an hour plus a bonus opportunity.

($1 = 0.7817 pounds)