Carrefour regains strength in France
rise in second quarter like-for-like sales, as the firm strengthens
its domestic position through in-store makeovers and competitive
pricing.
The world's second largest retailer, which has seen domestic sales slipping over the past five years, has posted a like-for-like hypermarket sales increase in France of 3.6 per cent excluding petrol - up 3.2 per cent on the first quarter.
French supermarket like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, were up 4.3 per cent. Overall, domestic sales rose 7.2 per cent to €10.3bn, while analysts had expected sales to rise no more than five per cent to €10.2bn.
"This solid performance was driven by strong food volumes, up 6.2 per cent. Fresh produce in particular performed well, recording close to double-digit growth," the company said in a statement.
The firm has also attributed the sales growth to the modernisation of its store network and distribution frame. The 20 supermarkets which were remodelled last year saw a sales increase of more than 20 per cent during the quarter, as non-food sales jumped 12.2 per cent and other in-store services, such as Carte Pass and insurance, gained popularity.
Across the Carrefour group, sales for the second quarter were €21.4bn, an increase of 9.1 per cent on the same period last year.
By region, sales in Europe outside of France were €8.06bn, up 7.9 per cent on the first quarter. Spanish sales were up 3.6 per cent and sales in Italy grew 6.8 per cent, but the company revealed both hyper and supermarket sales fell in "challenging" Belgium.
Latin America now represents Carrefour's most lucrative market, with sales up 15.4 per cent on last quarter, when the figures were adjusted to remove currency gains.
Argentinan sales rose 11.5 per cent to €405m on a reported basis but just 0.7 per cent when excluding currency effects, while Columbian sales jumped 27.6 per cent.
Asian sales were up 13.4 per cent, with China sales rising 25 per cent to €544m. Sales in Thailand fell 4.4 per cent - an improvement on last quarter's decline of 9.1 per cent. The company said the current "political crisis", an rise in interest rates and energy costs had work to impact sales and performance in the country.
In Taiwan like-for-like sales dropped 5.2 per cent, even though Carrefour worked to integrate six stores acquired from Tesco into its network.
