European food retailer Carrefour has reported a positive performance for the first half of the year, driven by good sales momentum in the second quarter.
The company’s net income for the first half was €298m ($354m), compared to a net loss of €25m ($29.7m) last year.
Its adjusted net income rose to €337m ($401m), or €0.42 ($0.50) to a share, from €250m ($297m), or €0.31 ($0.37) per share, last year.
Carrefour’s sales, including value-added tax (VAT), increased slightly to €38.3bn ($45.6bn) from €38.1bn ($45.3bn) last year. On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, sales increased by 3.9%.
In France, the group’s second-quarter revenues increased by 4.7% on an LFL basis.
During this period, the retailer delivered cost savings of €430m ($511m).
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By GlobalDataThe company’s operating profit for the period also grew by 11.2% from the same period of last year to €740m ($880m).
Carrefour aims for its net free cash flow generation to exceed €1bn ($1.19bn) this year.
Carrefour chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard said: “Once again this half, Carrefour has delivered excellent results. This performance reflects both the relevance of our strategic plan and the effectiveness of its execution, thanks to the tremendous commitment of all employees.
“We continue our steady improvement in customer service and are gaining market share in all our key markets.
“Our organic growth is strong, while the value-creating acquisitions in recent periods are rapidly integrated. And our new cost savings plan is quickly showing its first effects.
“While the sanitary and macroeconomic context remains uncertain, the group is moving forward with great serenity towards achieving its objectives, both for the full year, which will be another record year in terms of cash generation, and for the medium term.”
Carrefour currently operates more than 13,000 multi-format stores in more than 30 countries.
In February, Simbe Robotics’ autonomous inventory robot, Tally, was installed at 11 of the retailer’s stores in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).