(Reuters) – Carrefour, Europe’s largest food retailer, maintained its financial targets for 2025 on Wednesday, while reporting a slowdown in sales growth in its main markets of France and Brazil in the third quarter.
The supermarket group reported a 2.1% like-for-like increase in its turnover in the third quarter, to 22.6 million euros, in line with analysts’ expectations according to a consensus cited by Jefferies, but slowing compared to the 4.4% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Matthieu Malige told reporters on a conference call that demand for food had been strong in France in September, despite political upheaval.
“Based on the third quarter, we have food consumption which is very robust, which is holding up despite political uncertainties,” declared Matthieu Malige.
“At this stage, we do not see any weakening of the consumption dynamic,” he said without commenting on the impact of the political crisis in France on demand in the fourth quarter.
The weaker performance in France is explained in particular by price reductions in recently acquired Cora stores, as well as a high basis of comparison linked to the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024.
Sales rose 0.7% like-for-like in the third quarter year-on-year, but showed a slowdown from the 2.1% rise recorded in the second quarter.
Carrefour plans to finance its price cuts through a 1.2 billion euro cost savings plan for 2025, which it confirmed on Wednesday.
In Brazil, the group’s second market, high interest rates weighed on consumption, particularly in the Cash & Carry segment. Sales growth in Brazil slowed to +1.1% in the third quarter from +4.4% in the second quarter.
Carrefour confirmed its 2025 objectives, citing good commercial dynamics in Europe, the execution of the savings plan and financial discipline. The group now expects a slight increase in Ebitda, current operating profit and net free cash flow.
(Written by Elena Smirnova, with Dominique Vidalon and Helen Reid, edited by Kate Entringer and Augustin Turpin)
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