Groupe Casino sees Same-Store sales up 3.2% in the first quarter, although France is lagging behind
Groupe Casino has said so Sales in the same store in the entire network increased by 3.2% during the first quarter of its fiscal year, an improvement over the 0.4% decline reported during the last quarter of last year.
However, its French operations continue to underperform and reported a 1.6% decrease in sales in comparable stores during the first quarter, although this is an improvement over the 3.0% decline reported during the fourth quarter of 2021.
Earlier this week, rival Carrefour reported unchanged sales in France, with a decline in its supermarket operations.
French banners
In France, their casino supermarkets (+0.5%) and convenience (+3.7%) banners showed positive sales for the period, but supermarkets (-1.2%), supermarkets (-2.5%), Monoprix (- 3.0%) and Franprix (-2.2%) were all down.
The group said its French operations were showing signs of turning around, but sales had increased by 1.5% over the past four weeks.
“After several quarters affected by a shrinking Paris market, Parisian banners (Franprix and Monoprix) have seen trade recover strongly in recent weeks,” it added.
Its French e-commerce business increased its first-quarter net sales by 21%.
Latin America
Latin America was the main driver of the Group’s earnings during the first quarter, with growth of 9.7% for comparable stores reported across its various banners.
In Brazil, its Assaí business reported organic growth of 21.1% during the period (same store growth of 6.7%), while Grupo Exito reported organic growth of 20.3% (same store growth of 20.8%). %).
Looking ahead, Casino said that as the pandemic situation eases, the group is “confident in its ability to recover growth momentum by taking advantage of its differentiating assets and innovative services”.
This includes investments in convenience formats, including Monop ‘, Franprix, Naturalia, Spar and Vival), with a target of more than 800 stores to be opened.
It also plans to continue its € 4.5 billion divestment program in France, which it aims to complete by the end of 2023.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.