Groupe Casino has posted a trading profit of €121 million in its home market of France in the first half of its financial year. This is up from the €85 million it posted in the same period in 2016.
Some €83 million worth of this trading profit was accounted for by food retail activities, compared to €36 million in H1 2016.
Overall, group trading profit was €466 million in H1 (or €336 million if a tax credit in Brazil is excluded), up from €281 million in the same period last year (€211 million ex-Brazil).
Consolidated net sales stood at €18.6 billion, a 9.7% increase on the same period last year (€16.95 billion), or a 3.1% increase on an organic basis. EBITDA was €814 million, a 35.7% increase (€600 million).
Regional Performance
In France, the retailer said that ‘growth stood at +0.1% on an organic basis and +0.9% on a same-store basis, with a good performance in food retail, up +1.9% in the first half.’
Its Monoprix, Casino Supermarkets and Franprix banners ‘saw the pace of same-store sales accelerate over the period. Same-store sales at franchises in the convenience segment rose sharply.’
In Latin America, Casino’s business rose by 7.1% during the period, ‘ led by the sound development of cash & carry, the success of hypermarket revitalisation programmes in Brazil and growth in overall sales at Éxito.’
Its E-commerce business, Discount, posted a 10.5% increase in sales on a same store basis.
Looking Ahead
For the full year, Groupe Casino anticipates consolidated trading profit to be up by around 20%, based on closing exchange rates as of 30 June. In France, it is forecasting 15% of above in food retail trading profit.
Commenting on its performance, Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research said, ‘Casino’s better 1H17 results were mainly driven by the Latam Retail division that includes €130mn of tax credits by GPA (vs €70mn in 1H16). These higher tax credits explain why Casino raises its FY17 EBIT growth guidance at the group level, but leaves its French EBIT guidance broadly unchanged (c+15%).
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
