According to the analysts, CEO elect Georges Plassat will have to resort
to firm actions when he announces his company’s half year results, as
his predecessor’s tactics failed to deliver. Emerging markets did not
bring the positive results current CEO Lars Olofsson was hoping for, and
neither did his plan of resuscitating Carrefour’s hypermarkets – which
used to be the company’s pride, but are now Carrefour’s achilles heel.
Leaving nine countries would make competitors hungry
Plassat is to take over in July, and his first message will have to be
one of severe measures, ING concludes and names Argentina (658 stores,
according to Carrefour’s latest figures), Belgium (632), Greece (897),
Italy (1302), Malaysia (39), Poland (335), Romania (55), Taiwan (63) and
Turkey (1138) as the countries that are in danger. Even China and
Brazil, which the report claims to be Carrefour’s best markets, are not
doing well.
This report will be music to the ears of some competitors, especially
Dutch group Ahold (Albert Heijn in Europe, Giant in the US), which only
last week announced to “raise their ambitions, both locally and
internationally”. Maybe Ahold can even realise its old dream of taking
over Carrefour’s activities in Belgium, while Belgian chain Delhaize
might be interested in Turkey, one of its two empty spots on the Balkan
map – along with Macedonia…
