PARIS (Reuters) – Casino shares suffered one of the sharpest declines in the SBF 120 on Friday, penalized by the downgrading of the CFR credit rating from Moody’s, which is concerned about the distribution group’s indebtedness in the face of an economic context. difficult for the sector in France due to high inflation.
The rating agency downgraded its rating to Caa1 from B3 and added a negative outlook.
At 10:25 a.m., the Casino share fell by 6.63% to 6.26 euros when the SBF 120 lost 1.5% at the same time.
“The downgrade reflects the continued loss of retail market share in France, still negative cash flow in France and lower retail margins in France in 2022,” Moody’s said in a note dated Thursday.
The agency estimates that Casino will struggle to maintain its sales volume in 2023 due to rising prices, particularly in food, which is weighing on consumer confidence in a context of still fierce competition.
The negative outlook reflects uncertainty surrounding the group’s ability to stabilize its cash generation in this difficult market environment, Moody’s said.
The agency also highlights a “low liquidity profile” because the group depends on the ongoing process of asset disposals in order to be able to repay its maturing debt maturities.
Casino still has to refinance or repay about 1.2 billion euros in outstanding bonds by 2024 and another 1.8 billion by 2025, notes Moody’s.
(Written by Blandine Hénault with Piotr Lipinski, edited by Kate Entringer)
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