Petrol forecourt giant EG Group, which was recently bought by Asda, has revealed it lost $258 million last year.

The significant loss compares to profits of $207 million in 2021.

Asda acquired the company for around £2.3 billion in May, taking over its 350 petrol stations and over 1,000 food-to-go locations across the UK and Ireland.

Details of a possible merger between the two companies first arose in January amid warnings from workers’ union GMB that the merger could threaten 100,000 jobs and imperil the UK's food supply and fuel prices.

In April, GMB urged business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch to encourage the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the deal, claiming that the merger could add over £7 billion to the supermarket's existing debt, which is already thought to be worth "more than £4.7 billion".

Asda has since come under fire for alleged anti-competitive fuel pricing practices.

Earlier this month, the CMA concluded a year-long report of the fuel sector and hit Asda with a £60,000 fine after finding the supermarket’s decision to target higher fuel margins had weakened competition in the market.

In its report, the CMA concluded that drivers had been overcharged by the supermarket sector as a whole following a margin shift by Asda.

The watchdog also found that Asda's pence per litre fuel margin targets in 2023 were triple its 2019 level.

Asda co-owner and chief executive Mohsin Issa was criticised over his conduct during a government meeting earlier this month, after he ducked questions about the company's alleged anti-competitive fuel pricing practices.

At the meeting’s conclusion, Darren Jones, chair of the House of Commons business and trade select committee, said: “This has been quite an extraordinary session... you've not answered any of our questions.”

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