French retailer Carrefour has announced 'encouraging' sales growth in the first quarter of 2011.
Sales including VAT stood at 3.9 per cent at current exchange rates, or 2.1 per cent at constant rates, while like-for-like sales excluding petrol stood at 0.6 per cent.
Carrefour revealed that conditions in western Europe had been tough, with like-for-like sales excluding petrol falling by 4 per cent.
However, the retailer reported that sales in France were stable, while encouraging signs had been seen in Belgium and Spain.
Solid growth was recorded in emerging markets, including Latin America (11.6 per cent at constant exchange rates) and Asia (7.8 per cent).
The company's Carrefour Planet concept was, the company said, delivering continued strong sales and traffic growth, while Dia recorded growth of 2.9 per cent at constant exchange rates, boosted by strong performances in emerging markets.
Carrefour's CEO, Lars Olofsson, commented: 'Carrefour recorded solid sales growth in Q1 2011, confirming the momentum observed in 2010. This growth in sales was largely driven by Latin America and Asia, notably Brazil and China. In Europe, while the trading environment remained difficult, we saw encouraging signs in our Carrefour-branded convenience stores in France, as well as continued improvement in Belgium and in Spain. After the confirmation of strong sales and traffic growth in our Carrefour Planet pilot stores, we have now entered the roll-out phase. With our continuous cost improvements and three growth engines - emerging markets, Carrefour Planet and the Carrefour branded offer - we are on track to attain our objective of growing sales and current operating income in 2011.'
