Note: Groupe Casino completed the sale of its Thailand and Vietnam businesses in 1H16, and began the process of selling Via Varejo and its subsidiary, Cnova Brazil, in November 2016. The company has restated its financial statements from 1Q15 to 4Q16 to exclude the impact of these events.

FY17 Sales

French retailer Groupe Casino reported FY17 sales growth of 5.0% to €37,822 million, missing the consensus estimate of €38,187 million recorded by S&P Capital IQ. Organic sales growth (growth at constant scope of consolidation and exchange rates) was 3.2% and comparable sales growth was 2.4%. Both organic and comparable sales changes exclude petrol and calendar effects.

FY17 Sales by Segment

• France Retail: Comps under the supermarket, hypermarkets and convenience store banners were up 0.8%, while total sales fell by 0.2%. E-commerce banner Cdiscount’s comps expanded by 9.5%, and total growth was 8.3%. Overall, total French comps were 1.7% and sales growth was 0.6%.
• Latin America Retail: LatAm once again boosted group performance, with total sales growth of 11.0% and comps of 3.1%.

4Q17 Sales

During the quarter, sales contracted by 0.3% as reported to €10,008 million, ahead of the consensus estimate of €9,994 million recorded by S&P Capital IQ. Organic sales growth was 3.2% and comparable sales growth was 2.0%.

4Q17 Sales by Segment

France Retail

• Comparable sales including Cdiscount increased by 1.5%, while total sales edged up by 0.3%. Comps excluding Cdiscount were 0.3%, a sequential slowdown from 3Q17’s 0.6% and 2Q17’s 1.9%.
• Cdiscount’s total and comparable sales growth was 9.2%.
• Under Monoprix, GroupeCasino’s largest banner by sales, comps were (0.5)%, a significant slowdown from 3Q17’s 3.1%. Food and home products helped drive growth during the quarter.
• Franprix’s comps were up 0.5%, seesawing from (0.5)% in 3Q17.
• Hypermarket comps were flat, while Casino’s supermarket comps grew by 0.6%.
• Discounter Leader Price’s comps were up 0.3%, an improvement from the previous quarter’s (0.2)%.
• Convenience and other stores saw comparable sales rise by 2.3%, a significant improvement from the previous quarter’s 1.4% decline.

Latin America

• Comparable sales growth came in at 2.4%, a mild improvement from 3Q17’s 2.0%, but slower than 2Q17’s 3.7% and 1Q17’s 4.6%.
• GPA Food posted comps of 3.4%, which was a sequential improvement, as decelerating food inflation continued across the region.

Outlook

GroupeCasino maintained the group trading profit guidance given during its 1H17 update, which had been revised up from the previous guidance. The company expects its full-year unaudited group trading profit to amount to €1,240 million, implying 20% growth. In France, the company anticipates around 10% growth in trading profit to €550 million, of which the real estate contribution is estimated to be €90 million, while the rest is from retail trade. Consensus estimates were compiled before the latest update. ForFY18, analysts expect revenue of €38,187.16 million, denoting 6.0% growth, and EBIT to be €1,219.15 million, indicating 17.9% growth. Analysts estimate normalized EPS to strengthen by 7.8% to €2.76 in FY18. The company reports full-year results on March 8, 2018.