Auchan chief executive Vianney Mulliez has voiced concern following a drop of 25.1 per cent in net profits to €270 million for the first six months of the year. While group revenue saw a boost of 5.5 per cent to €22.4 billion, operating profit was down to €508 million, a 16.8 per cent drop from last year.
However, the retailer noted that net income showed an increase of 12 per cent when non-recurring elements were excluded and operating profit from continuing operations was up 4.7 per cent.
Western Europe, excluding France, was flat, with Spain, Portugal and Italy all posting negative growth. Meanwhile, France posted sales growth of 3 per cent.
Central and Eastern Europe and Asia showed sharp growth with a revenue spike of 14.1 per cent. The family-owned retailer noted the growing importance of its international activities with the segment now providing 57 per cent of revenue, with France making up the remaining 43 per cent.
The opening of 20 new hypermarkets since the start of the year helped the segment's consolidated revenue grow by 5.3 per cent to €17.7 billion, representing 79 per cent of the total group revenue. Supermarket revenue also got a boost, hitting €3.7 billion with an increase of 4.8 per cent. This was attributed to solid growth in France of 3.8 per cent and a 29.8 per cent growth spurt in Eastern Europe.
Mulliez said that while the results were in line with expectations, "The backdrop, especially in France, is highly uncertain, with the combination of an announced increase in charges on companies and a sharp slowdown in consumer spending. The outlook for the second half of the year therefore remains worrying in the euro zone”. (31 Aug)
© 2012 - ESM: European Supermarket
