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Investing.com -- Carrefour (EPA:CARR) beat second-quarter sales and earnings expectations and reaffirmed its full-year 2025 outlook, sending shares up over 7% on Friday.
The group reported like-for-like sales growth of 4.4% in the quarter, excluding fuel and calendar effects, ahead of Barclays (LON:BARC) and consensus expectations of 2.7%.
Gross sales reached €23.89 billion, compared with consensus at €23.50 billion and Barclays’ forecast of €23.70 billion.
First-half underlying EBIT came in at €681 million, ahead of consensus at €670 million and Barclays’ estimate of €645 million.
EBIT declined 8.5% year over year but was flat on a constant currency basis. Net free cash flow was negative €2.09 billion in the first half, improving on Barclays’ forecast of negative €2.28 billion.
In France, like-for-like sales rose 0.6% in hypermarkets and 0.7% in supermarkets, exceeding Barclays’ forecasts of a 1.5% decline and a 0.7% decline, respectively.
French EBIT reached €264 million, 12% above consensus. The company reported a 20% year-over-year increase in ROI, with a 34 basis point margin improvement excluding the impact of the Cora and Match integration.
Europe EBIT totaled €80 million, matching consensus and €20 million above Barclays’ projection.
Spain posted 2.9% like-for-like sales growth, outperforming consensus. Italy also exceeded expectations with 1.6% like-for-like growth, compared with a 1% decline in both Barclays and consensus forecasts.
Carrefour confirmed it has agreed to sell its Italy operations to NewPrinces Group for an enterprise value of approximately €1 billion.
Barclays had valued the business at €870 million. The company said the Italy unit lost €67 million in EBIT last year and posted negative free cash flow of €180 million. A €460 million impairment charge was recorded in the first half related to the sale.
In Latin America, Brazil’s like-for-like sales rose 4.4%, beating Barclays’ 3.5% estimate but below consensus at 5.4%. Regional EBIT was €366 million, 8% below consensus.
Brazil’s ROI rose 6.5% in constant currency but declined 7.1% in reported terms. Argentina’s ROI halved from €51 million to €26 million.
Global functions costs declined 35% year over year, €16 million below consensus. The group booked €529 million in exceptional charges, largely tied to the Italy impairment.
Carrefour maintained its full-year guidance for slight growth in EBITDA, ROI and net free cash flow. The company said it achieved €610 million in cost savings in the first half and reaffirmed its €1.2 billion full-year target.
The group opened 274 convenience stores in France in the first half. The Cora and Match integration had an €80 million negative impact on ROI.
Carrefour announced the sale of nine stores to meet French competition authority requirements, with a cash impact of around €70 million expected in 2026.
The €130 million synergy target by 2027 remains unchanged. Spain’s ROI rose 9.4%, while market conditions in Poland remained competitive.