Carrefour restructures in Italy

Carrefour is cutting 175 jobs at its Italian headquarters in Milan. The restructuring is fuelling rumours of a possible exit of the retailer from the country.

Red figures

The redundancies in Milan represent a quarter of the total workforce at the headquarters. Numerous positions and levels are affected, Italian media report. The retailer has been in the doldrums for some time: Italian sales fell 5.3 % last year and losses are said to be around 250 million euros. The chain has some 1,200 stores there, three quarters of which are operated by franchisees.

The intervention rekindles rumours of an imminent sale of the Italian branch. Last month, reports circulated about discreet talks that Carrefour was supposedly holding with the likes of Conad, Esselunga and Lidl. At the food retailer’s recent general meeting, CEO Alexandre Bompard announced that he is in the process of a “thorough review” and reorganisation of all operations, with a sale of some parts not being ruled out.