Carrefour announces further cost cuttings

PARIS: Europe’s largest retailer Carrefour on Thursday announced further cost cutings and cash flow targets ater achieving a goal of 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) in savings by 2020, sending its shares up 3%.

The French food retailer, whose possible takeover by Canada’s Alimentation CoucheTard unravelled last month ater opposition from the French government, reported a 16.4% rise in 2020 recurring operating profit to 2.173 billion. euros and said it scored its best sales performance in 20 years.

In a further sign of its confidence, Carrefour said it would reward investors with a full cash dividend payment instead of a payment in shares. It increased its 2020 dividend by 4.3% to 0.48 euros per share.

Carrefour 2020 sales grew 7.8% on a like-forlike basis to 78.6 billion euros, reflecting strong sales in the markets of Brazil, France, and Spain, as food retailers across the world benefit from the demand generated as lockdowns force consumers to stay at home.

In France, where Chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard has made reviving flagging sales at hypermarket stores a priority, operating profit increased 13.2% to 629 million euros on sales that rose 3.6% like for like. All store formats in France, including hypermarkets, saw sales rise.

The performance reflected “three years of flawless roll-out of our transformation” that has established a growth model based on customer satisfaction and new trends,” Bompard said in a statement.