The two leading franchise operators of Carrefour stores, Hyparlo and Guyenne & Gascogne, have reported contrasting first quarter sales. While G&G's turnover for the quarter was ahead 2.6 per cent, Hyparlo saw its sales fall 6 per cent as the result of the disposal of its Italian unit.
Total turnover at Lyon-based Hyparlo was €243.2 million in the first three months of 2003, down from €258.7 million a year earlier and entirely due to the decision to sell its Italy-based stores to Carrefour at the start of the year.
On a like-for-like basis, however, the company reported a 3.6 per cent increase in turnover, with domestic sales rising 3.3 per cent to €232.6 million (well ahead of overall French retail sector growth rates of 1.5 per cent) and Romanian revenues rising 9.2 per cent to €10.6 million.
The strong performance from Romania was driven by the Bucharest store, which lifted sales by 19 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Hyparlo operates 13 hypermarkets under the Carrefour fascia, 12 in France plus the Romanian outlet, and is in the process of building two more in Bucharest.
Like Hyparlo, Guyenne & Gascogne operates both in France (19 hypermarkets and six Champion supermarkets) and abroad (in Spain, where it is Carrefour's partner in the CCC unit operating 300 stores).
Total group sales for the quarter were €312.8 million, of which the G&G parent company accounted for €113 million (up 3.5 per cent) and Sogara (a joint venture with Carrefour in which G&G has a 50 per cent stake) some €399.7 million, up 2.1 per cent.
Sales from the Spanish operations - in which Sogara has an 8 per cent share - are not consolidated into G&G's results, but total turnover reached €1.8 billion.
While the company was pleased with the increase in sales, it stressed that the rise was lower than in the previous year because of the fact that the Easter period falls in the second quarter for 2003. G&G is based in south west France, a region well known for its gastronomic delights, and Easter is consequently a period of increased food expenditure. This boost should still take effect this year, but it will not be reported until the second quarter at the end of June.
G&G said that the war in the Gulf had had no effect on its business, and confirmed that a feared decline in tourist numbers to the south west of France (where there was a massive oil spill last year) had not materialised, and that sales for the key Easter and summer periods should not be affected.