Mixed results from heat-hit retailer
Gascogne, but the same phenomenon helped lift turnover at the
company's Spanish joint venture, Centros Comerciales Carrefour.
Exceptionally warm summer weather kept shoppers in France on the beach and out of stores in the third quarter, according to Carrefour franchisee Guyenne & Gascogne.
But the same hot weather helped lift tourist numbers in Spain, where the company's Centre Comerciales Carrefour (CCC) joint venture benefited from the influx of shoppers.
G&G, based in south-west France, said that third quarter sales were €358.1 million for the G&G group, down 1.5 per cent on the same period a year earlier as a result of the hot weather. The parent company reported a 0.3 per cent drop in sales to €145.7 million, while the Sogara joint venture with Carrefour (which in turn owns a stake in CCC) posted a 2.3 per cent decline in sales to €424.8 million, mainly as a result of the sale of its automotive operations.
For the first nine months of the year, total group sales were flat at €993.8 million, with a 1.9 per cent gain from the company's wholly-owned stores to €380.2 million offset by a 0.4 per cent decline in sales at Sogara.
Figures from CCC are not consolidated in G&G's results, but the company said that the Spanish unit had reported sales of €1.9 billion from its hypermarkets in the third quarter, up 7.7 per cent, and of €297 million from its supermarkets, up 12.8 per cent.
For the first nine months, the Spanish unit lifted hypermarket sales by 8.6 per cent to €5.3 billion, while supermarket sales growth was 11.5 per cent to €791.2 million.
The company did not give any profit figures for the quarter, but predicted that full year consolidated net profits would grow by around 20 per cent on the previous year's figures.
