French grocery retailer Casino has reported an 8.2% fall in first-half profit before tax to €322.5m (US$400.1m), hit by sluggish consumer spending in France and a one-off reduction in contributions from US operations due to comparison with a high first quarter 2004, which benefited from the strike at competing supermarkets.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Consolidated net sales for the first half of 2005 were €10.36bn, up 1.5% from the previous year’s first half, or 1.8% at constant exchange rates. Sales in France were €8.20bn, up 0.7% from a year earlier, reflecting sluggish consumer spending. In international markets, a strong performance in the group’s three main operating regions – Latin America, Asia and the United States – drove sales growth of 4.8%, or 6.0% at constant exchange rates, to €2.16bn for the first half.
In France, Casino said it had enhanced the price competitiveness of its traditional hypermarket and supermarket formats by repositioning national brand prices by more than the 2% called for in the Sarkozy agreements, lowering prices on private label products, and shifting the sales mix towards private label and low price products.
“Although this assertive policy initially has a mechanical impact on sales, it is now driving an increase in private label and low price volumes, (+8.7% in Géant hypermarkets over the half and +10.7% in Casino supermarkets), and favourable development of store traffic (+0.3% and +3.5% in hypermarkets and supermarkets respectively in the second quarter),” the company said.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
