French group Carrefour has once again published good results: it achieved a second quarter 6.1 % turnover increase, as its French performance improved and it returned to positive results in Belgium.
Above expectations
The group’s quarterly turnover reached 21.759 billion euro, slightly outperforming expectations both in France and in the rest of Europe. The French hypermarkets achieved a 0.5 % like-for-like turnover increase, a first since 2015’s third quarter. The French supermarkets followed suit, with a 1.9 % turnover increase. Carrefour said its smaller store formulas and its online platform also displayed a lot of dynamism, but the price and discount pressure in France is still enormous. This has left analysts worried about the company’s margins.
The Belgian division managed a 2.4 % like-for-like turnover increase, following its weak first quarter (caused by a cancelled marketing campaign). The company’s Spanish division also performed admirably: it grew 2.6 %, partially thanks to its recent Eroski acquisition. Italian turnover grew 3.9 % on a like-for-like basis.
Its Latin American and Asian performances were hampered by inflation, but it still achieved a 3.4 % growth. However, Carrefour refused to provide additional information because of the Brazilian division’s planned IPO. More detailed information about each region will only be released on 30 August.
