Carrefourhas announced that overall group sales fell 2.8 per cent during thefirst quarter (Q1) of the year to €22.7bn, hit in particular by fallingsales in France and the rest of Europe, resulting in the firstquarterly sales fall for six years.
'Carrefour recorded a resilient first-quarter sales performance inan environment that remains tough, thanks notably to our strengthenedcommercial dynamics,' said group CEO Lars Olofsson.
French sales fell 5.1 per cent during the three-month period, downto €9.6bn, a result of falling hypermarket and supermarket sales andthe 'calendar effect' which saw a day less in February compared with2008 and Easter falling in April instead of March.
Food sales declined by 2.4 cent in the country, while volumescontinued to reflect a shift towards Carrefour-branded products, thegroup said.
Western European sales (excluding France) dropped 5.2 per cent on2008, with Spain in particular hit by the economic slowdown to seesales contract 5.6 per cent. Italy (down 5.4 per cent to €1.6bn) andBelgium (down 3.4 per cent to €1.1bn) also endured reduced year-on-yearsales during the quarter.
In Asia, overall sales increased 14.7 per cent to €2.13bn, althoughChinese sales declined 6.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis. LatinAmerica also saw growth of 3.2 per cent, although sales in Carrefour'slargest regional market, Brazil, fell by 3.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the group opened or acquired a total of 210 new stores through the first quarter, adding an additional 170,000m2 of new space.
'In 2009, we will continue to be on the side of our customers towin market share,' Mr Olofsson added. 'The measures we have initiatedto transform our way of operating and reduce our costs will producetheir effects mainly in the second half of the year.
'Carrefour teams are currently working on implementing the strategicguidelines we have defined in order to significantly improve thegroup's performance,' he said.
