Carrefour: continued momentum in H1 | Progresiv
Carrefour has reported first half sales (inc VAT) of 40.6 billion euros, with "resilient sales" in France and Europe and "very strong growth" in emerging markets. 
Carrefour opened 410 stores in the first half, across convenience, supermarkets, cash and carry, and hypermarkets. Convenience is a key format for development - it accounted for the vast majority of store openings (305).
In France, Carrefour posted sales inc VAT of 19,196 million euros, slightly down on a like-for-like basis and affected by poor weather. Carrefour has accelerated the pace of DIA store conversions; all 648 will be completed by the end of 2016, as planned. Elsewhere in Europe, sales were up 2.2% on a like-for-like basis.
The region posted like-for-like sales growth of 14.5% for the half. Carrefour continues its omni-channel rollout in Brazil and has launched online sales for non-food, re-entering the online arena. The site covers four categories: home and decoration, technology and electronics, babycare, and health and wellbeing. To date, deliveries are only available in the south-east but the intention is to roll them out across the country.
In Asia, like-for-like sales were down 5.4%. Carrefour said sales trends in China were encouraging, driven by fresh produce, while it reported strong growth in sales, customer traffic and profit in Taiwan. (www.igd.com)
