Carrefour reports 0.7% Q4 sales increase

Carrefour reported a Q4 sales increase of 0.7% to EUR25.74 billion (USD33.7 billion) from EUR25.6 billion (USD35 billion) a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Eric Reiss said: "The fourth quarter was very tough, we saw volatile trading patterns." Sales in the first two weeks of January have not shown significant signs of improvement, Reiss said citing the "challenging" consumer environment. Excluding acquisitions and currency changes, total sales rose 1.9%. Sales in France, which generates almost half of Carrefour’s revenue, fell 2.3%. Hypermarkets like-for-like sales fell 4.5%. Revenue from non-food items such as electronics and home appliances plunged 5.8%. Supermarkets sales fell 1.1%. Discount like-for-like sales fell 3.9%. European like-for-like sales outside France fell 3.5%. Revenue in Spain, which accounts for about 15% of Carrefour's total sales, declined 3.1% on a like-for-like basis. Revenue in Italy and in Belgium declined respectively 3.4% and 4% on a like-for-like basis. In Eastern and Central Europe, like-for-like sales fell 3.9%. Revenue in Asia declined 5.1% on a like-for-like basis. Sales in the emerging markets saw rapid decline in December, Reiss said. Like-for-like sales in Latin America rose 11.1%, boosted by the purchase of Brazilian discounter Atacadao in 2007.

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