Rupert Murdoch's The Sunday Times last weekend increased its cover price by 10 percent to £2.20, becoming the most expensive national Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, MediaWeek reported Friday.

This is the first increase in the past four years, when the cover price rose to £2.00, the Press Gazette reminded. However, News International said the price hike "is less than the rise in the retail prices index over that period," MediaGuardian quoted.

Despite The Sunday Times' move, competitors have maintained their cover prices. According MediaGuardian, The Observer costs £2, the Sunday Telegraph £1.90 and the Independent on Sunday £1.80.

Two days after the increase, British supermarket chain Asda decided to remove The Sunday Times from the shelves of its 260 stores "due to a dispute over the margin it receives for selling the title," MediaWeek informed.

According to the chain, News International is keeping 18.3p of the extra 20p of the cover price, lowering Asda's sales gain from 25 percent to 23.1 percent.

The price increase and Asda's decision might further affect the newspaper's sale. The latest report of the Audit Bureau of Circulation revealed that The Sunday Times lost in August 8.46 percent of its circulation, from 1,068,158 in July to 1,066,240.