(News Bulletin 247) – For its first publication as a listed entity, the owner of the garden centers Jardiland or Gamm Vert and the Louise bakeries announced sales up slightly to 335.8 million euros for its first semester ended at the end of December.

The company Teract, owner of the garden center brands Jardiland, Gamm Vert, Delbard and the Louise bakeries, and which is in “exploratory discussions” with the distributor Casino with a view to a merger, announced Thursday sales of 335.8 million euros over the period July-December 2022.

This figure, which is up 0.6% in reported data compared to the same period last year, is published for the first time since Teract was listed on the stock exchange, i.e. since August 2022. The company closes its financial years staggered, to June 30, and these sales are therefore those of its first half.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, the title Teract appears slightly up 0.6% to 7.18 euros around 9:30 a.m.

Most of the sales from the garden center/pet store activity

Teract is the result of the merger between a financial vehicle created by the founder of Free Xavier Niel, the banker Matthieu Pigasse and a major player in distribution in France, Moez-Alexandre Zouari on the one hand, and on the other hand the branch ” distribution” of InVivo, a company uniting 188 French agricultural cooperatives.

Most of the sales came from the garden center/pet center business, under the Jardiland, Gamm vert Delbard, Jardineries du Terroir and Noa brands, although down 3% year-on-year. The garden center had been driven by the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020 and 2021, when the French, more confined to their homes, had invested massively in DIY, gardening and the interior design of their homes.

“Exploratory” discussions with Casino

Food sales, based mainly on the acquisition at the end of 2022 of the bakery chain from the north of France, Louise, amounted to 21.3 million euros over the half-year, specifies Teract.

Teract’s stated objective, in addition to developing gardening and pet stores, was to develop a food offering (fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese, groceries) partly supplied by InVivo member cooperatives.

The group confirmed in February that it had begun “exploratory discussions” with a view to a merger with the distribution activities in France of the Casino group, including in particular the Monoprix and Franprix brands.

During a telephone press briefing Thursday on the group’s sales, the general manager Moez-Alexandre Zouari indicated that he did not want to make “no comment on the discussions with Casino”, specifying later that he was at the same stage of “exploratory discussions”.

(With AFP)