Casino suffers from exchange rate impact
quarter results severely impacted by the effect of exchange rates,
in particular from its Latin American unit. But sales nonetheless
progressed during the quarter.
Third quarter sales at French retail group Casino increased by 8.6 per cent at constant exchange rates as the company continued to grow at a steady rate. However, as with compatriot Carrefour which released its Q3 results last week, exchange rates had a negative effect on sales, which grew by just 2.1 per cent in real terms.
Carrefour last week reported sales for the third quarter down 1.5 per cent as a result of a 7.1 per cent impact of exchange rates; at constant rates, Carrefour's sales were up 5.6 per cent.
Casino's turnover for the third quarter reached €5.6 billion, still a long way short of Carrefour's €18.9 billion, but Casino was nonetheless happy with the results, not least because its organic growth rate remained strong at 6.0 per cent.
Sales within France rose by 6.4 per cent to €4.4 billion during the quarter, helped by continued strong growth at the company's discount chain Leader Price, which posted 8 per cent growth on a like-for-like basis.
There was also good growth from Casino supermarkets in France (+2.2 per cent higher than the market average in September) and from the Geant hypermarket fascia which lifted sales by 2.8 per cent in the quarter.
However, the group's international business - which accounts for 21.4 per cent of total turnover - showed an 11.1 per cent decline in sales to €1.2 billion, entirely due to the negative effects of currency exchange. On a constant basis, international sales showed a strong 15 per cent increase.
Casino's international business covers the US, Poland, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Thailand and Taiwan, and like Carrefour the group was hit by the devaluation of the Argentine peso in particular.
