Carrefour aims for 5 per cent growth
Supermaket giant schedules ambitious opening programme
July 11 2002
Supermarket operator Carrefour is aiming for 5 per cent growth this year through accelerated like-for-like sales and a fast track international store opening programme.
Reporting on the half-way mark, Carrefour said sales for the first six months of the year were are up 3 per cent in real terms. However the negative effect of fluctuating exchange rates, particularly in the South American market means sales were actually down 1.5 per cent to 37bn euros. The 5 per cent sales growth target is based on constant exchange rates.
In its core French market, Carrefour’s hypermarkets and supermarkets continued to outperform the market during the second quarter. Europe also saw a recovery of hypermarkets in Spain and continued strong growth of hypermarkets in Belgium. The only European underperformer was the company’s business in Turkey
In Latin America, there were strong increases in like for like sales in Brazil and Argentina, reducing a sales decline seen in the first quarter.
In Asia, business in Taiwan suffered from the slowdown in the region, while China saw a high like for like growth. In June, Carrefour opened two stores in China and plans up to 10 this year, although the company has had to deal with Chinese law relating to foreign ownership
In the second quarter, Carrefour opened seven hypermarkets, eight supermarkets and 49 discount stores.
