Asda is set to declare its recovery plan complete after consistent sales growth in the past 12 months opened the door to more store openings and to possible acquisitions.

Britain's second biggest grocer, owned by US supermarket group Wal-Mart, announced yesterday that it had recorded like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, in the "mid single digits" in 2007 and "high single digits" for overall sales, which includes the impact of new stores.