France-based Groupe Casino has reported a drop in domestic sales for the first quarter of 2013, while the consolidation of its Brazilian business, GPA, boosted overall group sales growth.
The retailer announced a 33.7 per cent rise in group sales for the period, totalling €11.7 billion, with 2.5 per cent organic growth.
Sales fell 3.4 per cent on an organic basis (excluding petrol) in France due to the impact of an aggressive price-cutting strategy, with sales of €4,315 million. Several of the retailer's French banners saw a fall-off in sales, with a 10.2 per cent fall in like-for-like sales at Géant hypermarkets and a 8.3 per cent decrease at Casino supermarkets on the same basis, to €1.12 billion and €821.1 million respectively. Cdiscount delivered organic growth of 6.4 per cent.
Casino's international business, which made up 63 per cent of sales (compared to 49 per cent for the same period in 2012), delivered organic growth of 8.3 per cent to €7.37 billion, driven by solid performance in both Latin America and Asia. Like-for-like sales were up 5.4 per cent in the former region, with same-stores sales rising 2.3 per cent in Asia. (19 April)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Sadhbh Connor
