Following today’s release of Carrefour’s figures for the 52 weeks ending 31st December 2024; Eleanor Simpson-Gould, senior retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Carrefour has concluded FY2024 with lacklustre results, achieving like-for-like growth in only three of its eight regions: Romania, Brazil and Argentina. Hyperinflation within Argentina bolstered the company’s Latin American division, diminishing how impressive its +38.1% like-for-like performance in the region appears at first glance. These results emphasise the subpar performance in the company’s European operations. The multinational has grappled with high inflation and challenging consumer spending climates throughout the year. Although like-for-like sales in France and other European regions showed improvement as the year advanced, Carrefour concluded with a 2.3% decrease in domestic sales and a 0.9% decline in its European operations. Carrefour’s EBITDA did improve, up 1.7%, despite the group executing Match and Cora banners acquisitions in March 2024 and undertaking more aggressive pricing initiatives to counter inflation, diminishing the retailer’s profit momentum. Carrefour must balance its cost-saving endeavours to minimise further erosion to margin, which has fallen 0.3ppts in two years to 2.6%.
“Carrefour’s Q4 results provided a glimpse of improvements to come in 2025. The multinational’s like-for-like sales in Europe achieved positive growth in the final quarter of 0.6%. An encouraging performance in Romania and Spain, attributable to strategic price investments in these markets and the successful integration of the newly acquired Cora stores, bolstered these results. Furthermore, Carrefour’s proposition has resonated in Brazil, gaining traction by converting Ex-Grupo big banners to popular Atacadão formats. Although quarterly growth in Latin America softened from 48.0% in the first quarter to 25.6% in the fourth quarter, this region remains a critical area for further acquisitions and e-commerce development for Carrefour in the upcoming financial year.
“The retailer’s domestic sales performance continues to face significant challenges. Despite opening a record 454 convenience format stores in France in 2024, this expansion has not compensated for the weak performance in the hypermarket and supermarket formats, which saw declines of 4.2% and 1.4%, respectively. France’s FY like-for-like sales decreased by 2.3%, with food sales dropping 1.6% and non-food sales declining sharply by 8.1%. France’s consumer future sentiment index—which averages sentiment regarding the economy, personal finances, and retail spending over the next six months – was the lowest in Europe at -45.9 in January 2025, compared to the European average of -29.5*. Yet, Carrefour’s emphasis on price competitiveness is improving its position in the country, with gradual improvements in domestic quarterly sales. Carrefour must maintain this focus to steer the region back to positive growth in 2025.”
*GlobalData’s Retail Trend Tracker: European Consumer Sentiment January 2025
