Carrefour in country becomes second global operation
Valor Econômico
Amid a troubled phase of changes, with the reorganization of the structures and sale of businesses, the French group Carrefour informed the results of the quarter yesterday. From January to March, the global sales of the group totaled € 24.7 billion, growth of 3.9% compared to the same period in 2010. According to the criterion of "same stores", however, the growth was shy, of 0.8%. The chain makes it clear it continues to feel in the sales the effects of the apathy of the European market, but one of the main positive indicators involved the Brazilian subsidiary.
Brazil has become the second largest operation of the retail group in the world. The goal was a discretely discussed internally for years. In the accumulated from January to March, the country exceeded (for only € 35 million) the businesses in Spain and today it follows behind the French operation, according to the results of the subsidiaries in the world. Nearly three years, the then President of the chain in the country, Jean Marc Pueyo, commented the plan was to achieve such position until 2015. In the first quarter of 2011, Carrefour sold € 3.304 billion (R$ 7.6 billion) in Brazil, while in Spain it sold € 3.269 billion. France sells three times more than Brazil, what makes it extremely difficult for the Brazilian subsidiary to go beyond the position achieved today.
Moreover, according to the figures already published by the market, there is another relevant data. In the first quarter, Carrefour sold more than Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA), if considered similar bases of comparison. The business called GPA Alimentar, which includes the sales of supermarkets, hypermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, wholesale and online sales of foods, amounted gross sales of R$ 6.640 billion (US$ 4.2 billion), and its rival Carrefour achieved € 3.304 billion (R$ 7.6 billion). In Carrefour, the same businesses are analyzed in the case of GPA - except for the Dia chain, which Carrefour calculates separately.
The situation was the same in 2010. Carrefour registered sales of € 12.459 billion (R$ 27.8 billion), while GPA Alimentar sold R$ 26.131 billion (US$ 16.3 billion). Nevertheless, in terms of "same stores", one of the best indicators of the retail operation, GPA Alimentar grew 9.3% and Carrefour, 5.5%. The official ranking of the market to be published in May by the Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets), entity of the supermarket sector, will announce Pão de Açúcar the leader, because the ranking includes all businesses the chain (such as Globex and Casas Bahia). Altogether, the earnings of the chain exceeds R$ 36 billion (US$ 22.5 billion).
On the data of Carrefour in Brazil informed yesterday, there are no numbers on operating profit and Ebitda margin. Therefore, it is not possible to know whether the operation has increased the profitability. Besides, what pulls the results of Carrefour are the sales of Atacadão, while the operation of GPA Alimentar has a lesser participation than the wholesale business, one of the fastest growing in Brazil. According to the control of the French chain, the expansion of the group in the first quarter in sales "was largely driven by Latin America and Asia, markedly by Brazil and China", said Lars Olofsson, International CEO of the group yesterday on a note.