Casino Group Faces 12% Stock Drop Following 2024 Loss Announcement
(Reuters) - French supermarket group Casino on Friday reported a net loss of 295 million euros ($306.8 million) for 2024 after a year marked by restructuring, store disposals and job cuts, sending shares down more than 12%.
The owner of the Monoprix, Franprix and Naturalia brands, which fell out of France's SBF120 index for a second time in two years in December, said it sold 366 hypermarkets and supermarkets and closed 768 points of sale last year.
By 1235 GMT on Friday its Paris-listed stock, which has fallen 38% so far this year, had slid to 0.68 euros, its lowest recorded in LSEG data going back to 1985.
"We have implemented concrete and difficult actions to save the group, which will penalise sales in the short term, but which are necessary to ensure the group's long-term viability," CEO Philippe Palazzi told journalists in a post-earnings call.
Comparable yearly sales fell by 2.6% to 8.47 billion euros, the group said in a statement.
A consortium led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky bought a majority stake in the company after the Paris Commerce Court last February approved a procedure to bail it out.
Casino, which in November presented its strategic plan to 2028, now expects to return to break-even in its free cash flow after expenses in 2026.
"Net results are showing a strong improvement," Palazzi said on Friday. "The first signs of recovery are already there."
($1 = 0.9619 euros)
(Reporting by Florence Loève; Writing by Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Jan Harvey)