PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Carrefour, Europe's largest food retailer, said on Tuesday it was approaching 2026 with confidence after integration costs tied to the acquisition of the Cora and Match
Carrefour's Operating Profit Exceeds Expectations, Eyes 2026 Growth
Carrefour's Financial Performance and Future Outlook
By Dominique Vidalon and Helen Reid
Operating Profit Decline
PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour reported a decline in operating profit that was slightly better than expected on Tuesday, ahead of a new strategic plan to be set out by CEO Alexandre Bompard to turn around its performance.
Market Recovery and Consumer Sentiment
Finance chief Matthieu Malige said Carrefour is confident about 2026 as consumers in France show signs of recovery.
Strategic Plans and Asset Disposals
Carrefour reported 2.158 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in group operating profit for 2025, a 5.4% decline, dragged down by 210 million euros in integration costs from its acquisition of the Cora and Match stores in France.
Still, that was better than the 2.051 billion euros analysts were expecting, according to LSEG estimates.
RETURN TO GROWTH
Carrefour's comparable sales grew just 0.4% in France in the fourth quarter, as Malige said shoppers were trading down to less expensive products in the Christmas shopping period. Comparable sales grew 1.6% for the group overall.
But the French food retail market returned to growth in 2025, Malige said, after volumes declined for two years running due to inflation.
"French consumers' sentiment is improving and their purchasing power is recovering after the inflationary surge of 2022-2023," Malige told journalists on a call.
"Our investments in 2025 to become more competitive helped improve our price positioning compared to the market, and enabled us to maintain market share," he added.
DECLINING PROFIT, LOWER MARGIN
Carrefour's operating profit margin has declined every year since the pandemic, from 3.1% in 2021 to 2.6% in 2025, as Carrefour lost market share in France to competitors like privately owned E. Leclerc, and its large out-of-town hypermarkets suffered from the shift to online shopping.
Despite the previous two strategy plans, Carrefour's share price is still down nearly 29% since July 2017 when Bompard took over.
Carrefour is also disposing of non-core assets and last week announced the planned sale of its Romanian business for 823 million euros, having sold its loss-making Italy business in December. Excluding Italy, net free cash flow stood at 1.565 billion euros last year.
($1 = 0.8460 euros)
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon: Editing by Helen Reid and David Holmes)
