Auchan has announced it suffered drops in operating profit and net profit through the first six months of the year, as it was impacted by a slowdown in economic growth in France as well as negative growth in Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Net profit from continuing operations dropped 25.1 per cent from €361m to €270m, while profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent group fell 30.3 per cent to €237m.
Revenue during the half increased by 5.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis, up to €22.4bn from €21.1bn, boosted by central Europe, eastern Europe and Asian operations.
'Thanks to the commitment and professionalism shown by employees in all the group's businesses, results for the first half of 2012 were in line with our expectations, with operating profit from continuing operations up 4.7 per cent,' said Vianney Mulliez, chairman of the board of directors. 'These results reflected a geographical trend that confirms the gradual eastwards shift in the group's centre of gravity: revenue in Eastern Europe and Asia grew sharply whereas that in southern European countries was flat, hit by the ongoing economic crisis.
'France, which ramped up its responsible discount strategies, posted revenue growth of 3 per cent despite difficult conditions and still represents 43 per cent of group revenues,' he added.
'The backdrop, especially in France, is highly uncertain, with the combination of an announced increase in charges on companies and a sharp slowdown in consumer spending,' noted Mulliez. 'The outlook for the second half of the year therefore remains worrying in the eurozone.'
