Casino accelerates divestments to lower debts

The French Casino chain has announced it will accelerate its divestments, in order to to lower debts substantially by 2021.

Exit Géant?

Casino wants to sell assets worth two billion euros by the end of March 2021. The chain hopes to lower its debts in this way, and has – with the same goal – already cancelled this year’s dividend and next year’s interim dividend, saving 500 million euros.

In an update on its website, the French group also announced it will focus further on its e-commerce division Cdiscount, which already is a major growth factor for the group. Moreover, Casino expects a great deal from its new activities, such as solar energy, advertisements and data centers.

Casino has not yet released detailed information about which activities will be sold off, but analysts believe the Géant hypermarkets are a good call. Casino’s Leader Price discount stores are also a potential target.