Carrefour To Spend EUR900M In 2011 On Emerging Market Expansion
Sep 05 2011
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French retail giant Carrefour SA plans to spend EUR900 million this year to expand its activities in emerging markets, according to documents presented following the release of its first-half earnings Wednesday.

The group, which posted a net loss of EUR249 million for the first half due to one-off charges and a poor performance in France, plans to open 475 new stores in emerging markets this year, including 31 Asian hypermarkets, while it will cut investments in Greece, Italy and Spain, it said.

The group aims to complete 82 huge new hypermarkets called Planet stores by the end of the year, down from a previous target of 98 stores, according to the presentation.

Carrefour also plans to renovate 464 hypermarkets by 2013, down from an initial target of 503.

Regarding France, the group's Chairman and Chief Executive Lars Olofsson admitted that the group tried to do "too much, too fast," and that the group's profitability in the country, its historical market, was "unsatisfactory."

The company's management fired the top executive in charge of France earlier this year and appointed Noel Prioux to replace him. Prioux has been asked to implement a recovery plan to improve the company's performance in its home country, which is plagued by intensifying competition and higher supplier prices. 

Source: Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2011

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