Retail giant Carrefourhas reported a fall in year-on-year group profit of 45 per cent to€1.27bn for 2008, down from €2.3bn the previous year, as a result ofslowing domestic growth and higher costs.
Non-recurring charges for the year soared to €524m, including €396m worth of impairment charges.
Overall sales for the year grew 5.9 per cent to €87bn, but Frenchsales rose just 0.9 per cent on the previous year to €37.96bn,attributed in part to a fall in non-food sales at hypermarkets.
European sales excluding France increased 5.1 per cent to €32.4bn, withsustained growth in Spain, Romania and Portugal – however, that growthslowed across the continent in the fourth quarter, Carrefour said.
Elsewhere, Latin American sales jumped 27.9 per cent in 2008 to€10.5bn, with Brazil's Atacado chain in particular registering 'solidsales growth'.
Asian operations provided the group with a 'satisfying year', itsaid, with sales up 10.9 per cent to €6.07bn compared with €5.48bn in2007.
And despite the lower profit and slower fourth quarter, the groupremained optimistic that it would ride out the economic crisis.
'Carrefour's resilient performance in 2008 underlines the group's solidfundamentals,' said group CEO Lars Olofsson. 'In a trading environmentthat remains challenging, we will focus on boosting our sales dynamicswhile improving our organisation and reducing our costs.'
The group said that it would prioritise sales dynamics in 2009 witha €600m investment, would make operating cost saving of €500m to investin sales, and would increase selectivity when it comes to furtherinvestments.
'Our objectives for the future remain clear: generate profitable,sustainable organic growth that outpaces that of the market, andimprove our margins,' Mr Olofsson added. 'To accelerate our growth, wewill strengthen our positions in France and in Europe and focus ourexpansion on markets with the highest potential.
'By increasing our knowledge of our customers and better servingthem, by transforming ourselves to be more agile, improve execution andgain in operational efficiency and by regaining market leadershipthrough innovation, we will achieve our ambition: make Carrefour thepreferred retailer,' he added.
