Bradford supermarket chain Morrisons will have a fight on its hands if Asda is taken over, according to a stores analyst.

Mike Godliman, a director of London market analysts Verdict Research, said today that Morrisons could be hit on two fronts if one of two takeovers goes ahead.

Asda shareholders are to be asked to give their approval to a takeover by Kingfisher group - the name behind Woolworth, Superdrug, Comet and B&Q.

But American retail giant Wal-Mart is also believed to be stalking Asda and has already had a meeting on a possible takeover with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

On sales, Asda is currently the third biggest supermarket chain with Tesco at the top and Sainsbury's in second place. Below Asda is Safeway, the new Somerfield/Kwik Save merged stores and Morrisons.

"Whatever happens, Morrisons could be hit by price war which will take place whoever ends up controlling Asda," Mr Godliman said.

He said Asda stores would become one-stop stores for customers offering lower prices and a wider range of goods.

"Customers are aware of price more than anything else and the stores are waging a price war at the moment. But it has been said that Asda would offer between £100 million and £200 million of savings across the board if the Kingfisher takeover takes place and Morrisons will have to respond to that," he added.

The second problem facing the growing Bradford firm would be the range of household goods Asda stores would be in a position to offer - including electrical goods from Comet and D-I-Y and household goods from B&Q.

"Morrisons will be waiting to see what happens but they will be preparing a strategy which is likely to involve reducing the price of its food products and it will also look at its non-food range," he said.

Both firms give over a similar amount of space in their stores to kitchenware and health and beauty products.

"Morrisons could decide to take Asda head on on both sets of products with special offers to attract more customers," Mr Godliman said.

A spokesman for Morrisons said today that it did not comment on the activities of other supermarket chains or market speculation.

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