Ratings agency Standard & Poors (S&P) has revealed that it has lowered its long-term corporate credit rating for French retail giant Carrefour to BBB from BBB+.
S&P confirmed the short-term rating of A2 for the group, while confirming that Carrefour's outlook remained 'stable'.
'The downgrade of Carrefour reflects further erosion in its competitive position since the Autumn of 2011 and the longer-than-expected time to implement the restructuring programme,' S&P said in a statement. 'We think these factors will prevent Carrefour from restring its profitability in the medium term, and therefore anticipate a stabilisation of the adjusted EBITDA margin at 4.7 per cent in 2012, along with marginally positive revenue growth.
'The stable outlook reflects our view that Carrefour's more prudent stance on financial policy should enable the company to take the steps necessary to turn operations around while maintaining a financial structure commensurate with the current ratings,' S&P added. 'The stable outlook on Carrefour Banque mirrors that on its parent.'
