Asda sales rise for sixth straight quarter

LONDON (Reuters) - Asda, the British supermarket arm of Walmart <WMT.N> that has agreed to be acquired by rival Sainsbury's <SBRY.L>, on Thursday reported a sixth straight quarter of underlying sales growth, boosted by strong sales of own label products.

Asda, the UK's third largest grocer after market leader Tesco <TSCO.L> and No. 2 player Sainsbury's said on Thursday like-for-like sales rose 2.0 percent in its fiscal third quarter versus a rise of 0.4 percent in the previous quarter, or a 2.6 percent increase adjusted for Easter.

The supermarket added, however, that its gross profit rate declined, reflecting price cuts.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Alistair Smout)