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Asda owners the Issa brothers have reportedly scaled back investment in their petrol forecourts business EG Group in a bid to reduce debts.
According to the Telegraph, EG Group reduced its growth capex by 37% last year to £191m in what executives called a “controlled reduction” to maximise liquidity.
The company did not specify where it had cut back but the business is said to have expanded its US operations “with minimal capital spend” last year compared with the heavy investment reported in 2022.
This move comes as the company attempts to quickly pay down its debt pile in the face of high interest rates.
The group is understood to have paid down its debt pile from £7.89bn at the start of 2023 to £4.73bn by the end.
Alongside this, Asda has debt of around £4.2bn bringing into question the Issa brothers management of the debt at their businesses.
In an interview with the BBC last week (1 March) Zuber Issa claimed that Asda’s debt was sustainable and 90% of it had been fixed.
