Carrefour shaves 2008 sales targets

French retailer Carrefour said that it expected sales growth of 6.5%, down from a previous target of around 7%. The announcement was made after the Board of Directors met to review the action plan implemented over the last two months. The retailer said it would continue its “aggressive promotional policy” given the deteriorating global consumption trends it had seen over the last weeks. Carrefour said that it expected to meet its target of EUR1.5 billion (USD2.15 billion) of operational free cash flow, compared with EUR691 million (USD994 million) in 2007. Carrefour CEO Jose Luis Duran said that he expected the group to post sales growth of around 3% in Q4. He added that the company had not yet seen any short-term positive impact from changes in inflation rates and oil prices, but that he expected to see a positive effect in the medium to longer term. Duran said he had noted a “certain slowdown” in non-food sales in China, but that food sales were “pretty positive.” The board was meeting in the last time in the presence of Duran who is due to be replaced as CEO by the former marketing head of Nestle, Lars Olofsson.

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