Food
French retail group Carrefour published strong growth figures in all countries in the first quarter. This is not only due to panic buying caused by the corona crisis: the improvement was already underway in the beginning of the year.
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In the exceptional context of the corona pandemic, Carrefour is taking a number of remarkable measures: savings on management salaries are releasing budgets for solidarity actions. Moreover, the company's dividend will be halved.
Even though talks between the two retailers were dropped last year, according to analysts from Barclays, a tie-up between Carrefour and its French competitor Casino would not be unthinkable, especially because of the ongoing difficulties at Casino.
French retailer Carrefour is well on track to achieve its ambitious objectives, despite uncertain market conditions. But in France and Belgium, the half-year figures are somewhat disappointing.
Within a year of CEO Alexandre Bompard’s arrival, Carrefour’s board is getting a major shake-up. Remarkable is that three of the four new independent directors have a lot of digital experience, which is no coincidence.
Carrefour has suffered a 1.3 billion euro loss in 2017, and saw its like-for-like turnover growth halved. The weak results do show the need for a transformation plan, says CEO Alexandre Bompard.
Alexandre Bompard will need to perform another gargantuan task at department store group Carrefour. After he managed to get Fnac back on track, he will need to do the same for Carrefour.
Fnac-Darty’s CEO, Alexandre Bompard, is about to become Carrefour’s new CEO, succeeding Georges Plassat. The company is hoping to confirm his appointment at the General Assembly on 15 June.
