Carrefour, France’s largest retailer, reported a 6.2 per cent increase in first-quarter sales as growth at home and in Brazil compensated for weakness in China.
Revenue rose to €21 billion ($22.4 billion), Boulogne- Billancourt, France-based Carrefour said in an e-mailed statement Friday. Analysts predicted €20.8 billion, according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Carrefour is ramping up investment this year as it seeks to continue a turnaround under chief executive officer Georges Plassat, who has been away from the office since early February following surgery. Carrefour plans to spend as much as €2.6 billion on investments such as modernizing stores, adding pick-up points for online orders in France and opening three logistics centers in China, the company said last month.
The key formats in France remain “in positive territories, excluding petrol, while Italy and China remain the retailer’s pain points,” Gildas Aitamer, an analyst at Planet Retail, said before Carrefour reported the figures. “We believe Brazil will continue to drive the group’s growth.”
Brazilian billionaire Abilio Diniz raised his family’s stake in Carrefour to 5.07 per cent, his holding company said Thursday. Peninsula is now the fourth-largest shareholder in the French retailer.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
