Paris, France--(Marketwire - January 23, 2008) -
2007 Full Year Sales
Carrefour meets its 2007 sales growth target
Sales inc. VAT + 7% on constant exchange rates
Q4 sales up 10% on constant exchange rates
x Third consecutive year of faster sales growth
- Group sales grew 7.0% on constant exchange rates versus 6.3% in 2006
and +4.3% in 2005
- Faster growth reflects a stronger consumer offer and the opening of
more new m2 through organic growth and tactical acquisitions
x Both core and growth markets have contributed
- Sales progressed well in France despite food price deflation for the
first three quarters of the year reflecting a very competitive trading
environment
- In Europe, Spain, Poland and Romania led like for like growth
- Our growth markets in Asia and Latin America performed very well
x Making the brand work harder
- Our re-thinking of the hypermarket model is beginning to pay off as
customers respond positively to the roll out of our new generation
stores
- We are strengthening the Carrefour brand, focusing on choice,
innovation, freshness, and own label as well as maintaining local price
leadership
- We are leveraging the strengths of the Carrefour brand through our
multi format single brand stategy with first good results in France,
as well as in all other markets such as Spain, Poland, Brazil, and
Turkey
x 2007 guidance confirmed
- We will report an increase in Activity Contribution for the full
year, broadly at the same rate as in 2006
x 2008 will be a breakthrough year
- Making our brand work harder, as well as opening more m2 in our
growth markets, will help us grow sales by 6 to 8% in 2008, excluding
acquisitions; We expect operating profits to grow faster than sales
FULL YEAR 2007
Sales Like for Expansion Total Currencies Total
Incl. like Ex.
VAT Currency
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
FRANCE 42,085 0.3 0.7 1.0 0.0 1.0
EUROPE ex France 34,359 1.6 5.0 6.6 0.4 7.0
LATIN AMERICA 9,775 9.8 27.0 36.8 0.7 37.5
ASIA 6,052 2.8 14.7 17.5 -5.8 11.7
TOTAL 92,272 1.8 5.2 7.0 -0.1 6.9
Fourth Quarter 2007 Sales
Q4 2007 Sales inc. VAT: + 10% on constant exchange rates
x Strong finish to the year
- Q4 showed the fastest growth of any quarter in 2007 even taking into
account a positive calendar effect in France of around 1.0%
x Encouraging trends in France
- Customers are responding well to the roll out of our dry grocery and
non-food concepts in French hypermarkets
- Conversion of Champion test stores to Carrefour banner, as part of
our multi format single brand strategy, is delivering good first results
- Overall, supermarkets showed strong growth in the quarter, the best
since 2000
- Hypermarkets continued to win market share while overall we continued
to consolidate the market share gains made in Q4 2006
x Robust performance in Spain
- Spain was resilient in the quarter despite a slowdown in consumer
spending. Carrefour Express again reported double digit like for likes
x Investment in growth markets pays off
- Fourth quarter sales in our growth markets in Europe, Asia and Latin
America grew strongly. Together, these markets grew sales on constant
exchange rates by 29.7% in Q4
- Four countries recorded like for like growth in excess of 5% - China,
Argentina, Poland and Romania
- Growth markets represented 27% of group sales, the highest percentage
ever
FOURTH QUARTER 2007
Sales Like for Expansion Total Currencies Total
Incl. like Ex.
VAT Currency
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
FRANCE 11,426 4.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 4.0
EUROPE ex Fce 9,665 3.4 5.4 8.8 0.8 9.6
LATIN AMERICA 3,021 10.0 36.2 46.2 3.2 49.4
ASIA 1,461 2.9 10.0 12.9 -7.3 5.6
TOTAL 25,573 4.2 5.8 10.0 0.2 10.2
FRANCE
Q4 2007: sales up 4.0%
Customers responding well to brand-building efforts
FOURTH QUARTER 2007 FULL YEAR 2007
Sales Like for Expansion Total Sales Like for Expansion Total
Incl. like Incl. like
VAT VAT
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (m€) (%) (%) (%)
France 11,426 4.0 0.0 4.0 42,085 0.3 0.7 1.0
Hypermarkets 6,451 4.1 0.6 4.7 22,818 1.2 1.3 2.5
Supermarkets 2,408 7.2 -0.2 7.0 9,105 2.1 0.8 2.9
Hard discount 724 1.2 3.1 4.3 2,831 -0.5 4.1 3.6
Others 1,844 0.4 -2.4 -2.0 7,330 -3.9 -2.4 -6.3
Sales in France grew 4% this quarter, or 2.9% excluding petrol. The market
remained competitive although inflation returned gradually throughout the
quarter as increases in raw material costs were passed through to shelf prices.
The Q4 calendar impact was around 1% positive.
Like for like sales in hypermarkets increased 4.1% including petrol, or 2.4%
excluding petrol. This growth was mainly driven by an increase in average basket
(+2.8%). Customer traffic was broadly stable, at -0.4%.
Food like for like sales were up 3.4%. As expected, after noting that deflation
had eased in Q3, food inflation returned in Q4 and averaged 1.6% in the quarter.
This inflation is the result of passing through raw material costs increases to
shelf prices. Within this context, there was no change to our commitment to
local price leadership. Our anniversary promotion, together with our on-going
work to strengthen assortments, choice and service, continued to deliver results
and helped us record a further increase in food volumes this quarter.
Non food sales were up 0.5% in the quarter, reflecting a satisfactory
performance in general merchandise and consumer electronics, where growth
categories on which we have been focusing have performed very well. Examples
include video games, where sales were up more than 40%, and small electronic
appliances where sales grew by more than 10%. In apparel, however, overall sales
were slightly down.
The 25 stores that have been converted to the non food model, as part of our
re-thinking of the hypermarket concept, continued to outperform the chain
average by 3% to 5%.
Supermarket like for like sales were up 7.2% this quarter, with a 4.6% increase
excluding petrol. Again, the performance was mainly due to an increase in
average basket. Non-food like for like sales increased by nearly 10%. Overall
this year, 59 stores were extended, while 17 new stores were opened, resulting
in the creation of close to 80,000 new m(2).
Sales in hard discount increased 4.3% in the quarter, of which 1.2% on a
comparable basis.
Convenience store sales grew sales 2.1% on a like for like basis.
EUROPE (ex France)
Q4 2007: sales up 8.8% on constant exchange rates
Like for like growth led by Spain, Poland and Romania
FOURTH QUARTER 2007 FULL YEAR 2007
Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total
Incl. for Total Incl. for Total
VAT like Ex. VAT like Ex.
Currency Currency
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
EUROPE ex Fce 9,665 3.4 5.4 8.8 0.8 9.6 34,359 1.6 5.0 6.6 0.4 7.0
Spain Total 4,027 6.4 1.2 7.6 0.0 7.6 14,386 3.8 1.7 5.5 0.0 5.5
Hypermarkets 2,708 5.2 1.3 6.5 0.0 6.5 9,493 3.1 2.2 5.3 0.0 5.3
Supermarkets 183 11.5 3.3 14.8 0.0 14.8 693 15.2 0.2 15.4 0.0 15.4
Hard discount 880 8.9 1.2 10.1 0.0 10.1 3,229 3.3 1.4 4.7 0.0 4.7
Others 256 10.8 -4.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 971 8.1 -5.0 3.1 0.0 3.1
Italy Total 1,949 -1.0 2.8 1.8 0.0 1.8 7,158 -1.7 2.9 1.2 0.0 1.2
Hypermarkets 845 -2.2 2.5 0.3 0.0 0.3 3,014 -2.2 3.1 0.9 0.0 0.9
Supermarkets 574 0.3 1.4 1.7 0.0 1.7 2,152 -1.3 2.2 0.9 0.0 0.9
Others 530 -0.6 4.9 4.3 0.0 4.3 1,992 -1.2 3.2 2.0 0.0 2.0
Belgium Total 1,274 -0.5 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 4,764 -1.5 1.1 -0.4 0.0 -0.4
Hypermarkets 652 -0.8 0.0 -0.9 0.0 -0.9 2,379 -1.4 0.0 -1.4 0.0 -1.4
Supermarkets 276 -1.9 0.1 -1.8 0.0 -1.8 1,053 -2.9 0.0 -2.9 0.0 -2.9
Others 346 1.4 2.1 3.5 0.0 3.5 1,332 -0.6 4.3 3.7 0.0 3.7
Other Europe 2,415 4.9 19.4 24.3 3.9 28.2 8,051 3.2 16.3 19.5 1.9 21.4
Sales in Europe ex France were up 8.8% on constant exchange rates. Like for like
sales were up 3.4%. Again, the calendar impact was close to 1% positive.
In Spain, sales growth continued to be strong, with like for likes of 6.4%
overall. In hypermarkets, food, again, was the principal driver for strong like
for like sales growth of 5.2%. But overall, both food and non-food recorded
positive like for likes this quarter. Carrefour Express continued to perform
strongly, with an 11.5% growth in like for like sales.
Hard discount sales growth picked up this quarter (8.9% like for like sales
growth in Q4 vs. 3.3% for the full year), reflecting an increase in both average
basket and traffic. The stores from the Plus network were integrated from 1
December.
Sales in Italy increased by 1.8%, with a still difficult trading mostly in
hypermarkets, which recorded a 2.2% like for like decline. Supermarkets and
convenience stores outperformed this trend.
In Belgium, total sales were broadly flat (up 0.1%). Trading in the country
continues to be difficult with strong market share gains from hard discounters
and low volume growth, but the performance from our franchisees network showed
signs of improvement from Q3. The 16 supermarkets that were restructured have
been re-opened as franchisees in the first days of 2008 but these stores had a
negative impact on Q4 trading. Adjusting for their performance, integrated
supermarket like for likes were broadly flat.
In Q4, all countries in the rest of Europe recorded sales growth on constant
exchange rates above 10%. Greece and Romania respectively saw their sales on
constant exchange rates grow 10.7% and 37.2%. Healthy like for likes, and the
three month integration of Ahold Polska, led to 51.9% sales growth in Poland on
constant exchange rates.
LATIN AMERICA
Q4 2007: sales up 46.2% on constant exchange rates
Strong underlying growth supplemented by acquisition of Atacadao
FOURTH QUARTER 2007 FULL YEAR 2007
Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total
Incl. for Total Incl. for Total
VAT like Ex. VAT like Ex.
Currency Currency
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
LATIN AMERICA 3,021 10.0 36.2 46.2 3.2 49.4 9,775 9.8 27.0 36.8 0.7 37.5
Brazil Total 2,111 0.9 52.2 53.1 11.6 64.7 6,675 2.6 37.6 40.2 4.4 44.6
Argentina 594 37.6 4.2 41.8 -18.1 23.7 2,052 31.7 4.3 36.0 -13.4 22.6
Total
Colombia 316 3.2 16.3 19.5 2.0 21.5 1,049 5.9 16.9 22.8 5.3 28.1
Total
Sales in Latin America continued to record strong growth, up 46.2% on constant
exchange rates (10% on a like for like basis). Atacadao contributed around 29%
to the growth of the region.
In Brazil sales were up 53.1%, boosted by the integration of Atacadao.
Hypermarket trading remained soft mostly because of non-food, while the stores
under the Carrefour Bairro concept and the Dia stores posted good performances.
In Argentina, growth continued to be strong, again with all formats posting
growth over 30% on a like for like basis.
In Colombia total sales were up 19.5% on constant exchange rates, with a
contribution from like for likes of 3.2% and from new space of 16.3%.
ASIA
Q4 2007: sales up 12.9% on constant exchange rates
Strong momentum in key growth markets such as China
FOURTH QUARTER 2007 FULL YEAR 2007
Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total Sales Like Expansion Currencies Total
Incl. for Total Incl. for Total
VAT like Ex. VAT like Ex.
Currency Currency
(m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (m€) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
ASIA 1,461 2.9 10.0 12.9 -7.3 5.6 6,052 2.8 14.7 17.5 -5.8 11.7
China Total 725 8.0 12.7 20.7 -7.0 13.7 2,964 8.0 16.4 24.4 -5.0 19.4
Taiwan Total 299 -2.6 4.6 2.0 -10.0 -8.0 1,391 -3.5 13.4 9.9 -9.8 0.1
Indonesia 195 0.2 15.3 15.5 -13.8 1.7 763 1.7 19.0 20.7 -9.9 10.8
Total
Other Asia 241 -1.1 5.6 4.5 1.3 5.8 934 -1.2 8.0 6.8 2.2 9.0
Sales in Asia were up 12.9% on constant exchange rates. Like for like sales
contributed 2.9% and expansion 10%.
China recorded sales growth on constant exchange rates of nearly 21%, with
strong like for like sales of 8%. Food sales strongly contributed to this growth
for both the hypermarkets and Dia. Overall, 22 hypermarkets were opened in China
during the year.
Like for like sales in Taiwan are still impacted by the heavy impact of
cannibalisation, more so since the opening of our store in San Chung. The Moon
Festival, this year in Q3 compared to Q4 in 2006, had a negative impact on
sales. Adjusted for this, the performance is in line with Q3.
In Indonesia, total sales on constant exchange rates were up 15.5% with a 0.2%
like for like sales growth and a 15.3% contribution from new space. Strong food
sales supported the increase in average basket. Overall, 8 stores were opened in
2007, of which 6 were opened in Q4.
Sales in Thailand and Malaysia increased 6.6% and 4.1% respectively on constant
exchange rates, mainly driven by expansion.
EXPANSION
Overall, over the year 2007, we opened or acquired 1,353 new stores under
banners, accounting for close to 1.7 million m(2) of new space.
In France, we opened 184,000m(2), of which extensions of existing hypermarkets
accounted for 30,000m(2), supermarkets 77,000m(2), hard discount 61,000m(2) and
convenience stores 16 000m(2).
17 supermarkets, 49 hard discount stores and 67 convenience stores were opened
or acquired in the period.
In Europe ex-France, we opened or acquired 51 new hypermarkets, 295
supermarkets, 490 hard discount stores and 152 convenience stores. In total, we
opened or acquired 799,000m(2).
In Latin America, 62 hypermarkets, 14 supermarkets, 88 hard discount stores and
5 convenience stores were opened or acquired in the year, accounting for
410,000m(2), while in Asia 36 hypermarkets and 27 hard discount stores were
opened or acquired, for a total of 268,000m(2).
NETWORK OF STORES UNDER BANNERS - Q4 2007
Sept 2007 Openings Additions Closed Transfers Disposals Dec 2007
HYPERMARKETS 1 108 54 1 1 163
France 218 218
Europe ex France 426 18 1 445
Latin America 239 16 255
Asia 225 20 245
SUPERMARKETS 2 659 57 7 17 2 2 708
France 1 016 4 4 3 1 021
Europe ex France 1 513 42 3 14 2 1 546
Latin America 130 11 141
HARD DISCOUNT 5 907 130 183 55 1 6 166
France 879 20 3 1 897
Europe ex France 4 090 70 183 44 4 299
Latin America 665 37 7 695
Asia 273 3 1 275
CONVENIENCE STORES 4 748 102 47 -2 1 4 800
France 3 229 40 23 1 3 245
Europe ex France 1 514 62 24 -2 1 550
Latin America 5 5
CASH AND CARRY 154 154
France 134 134
Europe ex France 20 20
COUNTRIES TOTAL 14 576 343 191 119 1 1 14 991
France Total 5 476 64 4 29 1 1 5 515
Europe ex Fce Total 7 563 192 187 82 7 860
Latin America Total 1 039 64 7 1 096
Asia Total 498 23 1 520
NETWORK OF STORES UNDER BANNERS - FULL YEAR 2007
Dec 2006 Openings Additions Closed Transfers Disposals Dec 2007
HYPERMARKETS 1 018 98 51 3 -1 1 163
France 218 218
Europe ex France 386 34 17 8 445
Latin America 204 28 34 2 -9 255
Asia 210 36 1 245
SUPERMARKETS 2 425 125 201 50 10 3 2 708
France 1 025 9 8 10 -10 1 1 021
Europe ex France 1 282 102 193 40 11 2 1 546
Latin America 118 14 9 141
HARD DISCOUNT 5 798 471 183 295 9 6 166
France 848 49 9 9 897
Europe ex France 4 063 307 183 254 4 299
Latin America 632 88 25 695
Asia 255 27 7 275
CONVENIENCE STORES 3 130 222 2 103 1 559 10 4 800
France 1 654 65 2 44 1578 * 10 3 245
Europe ex France 1 476 152 59 -19 1 550
Asia 5 5
CASH AND CARRY 154 154
France 134 134
Europe ex France 20 20
COUNTRIES TOTAL 12 525 916 437 451 1 577 13 14 991
France Total 3 879 123 10 63 1 577 11 5 515
Europe ex Fce Total 7 227 595 393 353 2 7 860
Latin America Total 954 135 34 27 1 096
Asia Total 465 63 8 520
*Including the 1 576 Sherpa and Proxi stores
2007 SALES INCLUDING VAT PER COUNTRY
2007 sales 2006 sales Change Change on
Pro forma constant 2006 sales
Exch rates Published
(m€) (m€) (%) (%) (m€)
France 42 085 41 675 1.0 1.0 41 675
Spain 14 386 13 640 5.5 5.5 13 640
Italy 7 158 7 072 1.2 1.2 7 072
Belgium 4 764 4 783 -0.4 -0.4 4 783
Greece 2 774 2 528 9.7 9.7 2 528
Portugal 826 744 11.1 11.1 1 336
Poland 1 952 1 359 43.7 38.9 1 359
Switzerland 504
Turkey 1 633 1 463 11.6 10.3 1 463
Romania 866 536 61.5 54.5 536
Europe 34 359 32 125 7.0 6.6 33 221
Brazil 6 675 4 616 44.6 40.2 4 616
Argentina 2 052 1 674 22.6 36.0 1 674
Colombia 1 049 819 28.1 22.8 819
Americas 9 775 7 109 37.5 36.8 7 109
Taiwan 1 391 1 390 0.1 9.9 1 390
China 2 964 2 482 19.4 24.4 2 482
Thailand 558 503 10.9 5.2 503
Malaysia 281 251 11.7 14.1 251
Indonesia 763 689 10.8 20.7 689
Singapore 96 102 -6.6 -3.4 102
Asia 6 052 5 417 11.7 17.5 5 417
Group 92 272 86 326 6.9 7.0 87 422
Investor relations: Alessandra Girolami, Etienne Humbert Tel : (33) 01 55 63 39 00
Shareholders information: Celine Blandineau Toll free Ndegrees : 0805 902 902
Press relations: TBWA Corporate Tel : (33) 01 49 09 26 66
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