French supermarket chain Carrefour has reduced its full-year 2026 financial targets following social and security disruption across urban stores in the country.
The company said weaker consumption, curfew-related cuts to opening hours, decreased footfall, and higher security and logistics costs had affected trading.
It also cited pressure on consumer confidence in France from rising energy prices ahead of year-end trading.
Carrefour now expects recurring operating income margin growth of between zero and 15 basis points, compared with its previous target of 25 basis points.
Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be stable to slightly higher than in 2025, replacing an earlier forecast for high single-digit growth.
Net free cash flow is now expected to decline slightly, rather than increase.
Capital expenditure has been reduced to €1.6bn ($1.79bn) from €1.7bn, reflecting reduced investment in France.
Carrefour chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard said: “As we enter the critical end-of-year period for the retail sector, this situation is having a significant impact on consumer spending—which is already under pressure from rising energy costs—and is affecting the operations of our stores.
“Against this backdrop, we are adjusting our financial targets for 2026 and anticipate a more moderate increase in the operating margin. Our strategic roadmap remains unchanged.”
For the third quarter ended 30 September 2026, group sales including VAT reached €22.69bn.
Sales increased 2.3% on a like-for-like (LFL) basis, 2.7% at constant exchange rates, and 3.9% at current rates.
During the first nine months, sales rose 2.1% LFL to €66.48bn.
French third-quarter sales rose 1.2% LFL to €11.90bn.
Food sales increased 1.6% while non-food sales declined 2.2%. Cora and Match recorded growth of 7.3% and 3.4%, respectively.
In international operations, Spain’s sales increased 2.1% LFL to €3.10bn, supported by 13% growth in convenience stores.
Brazil posted 1.4% LfL growth to €5.14bn.
The other countries segment rose 8.4% LFL to €2.54bn, supported by Belgium and Argentina, while Poland declined 4.3%.
Alongside the trading figures, Carrefour announced an agreement to acquire convenience franchiser Codifrance and finalised a sale-and-leaseback agreement covering 35 stores across France and Spain.
