French retail giant Carrefour reports sales hike(70050)

French retail giant Carrefour reports sales hike

French retail giant Carrefour on Thursday said first half sales rose 5.9 percent, compared to the same period last year, as it announced the acquisition of a stake in a Chinese retail chain.

Sales in the January-June period came to 48.9 billion euros (63 billion dollars).

In the second quarter, April-June, sales grew 6.3 percent to 24.9 billion euros, the company said, adding for the full-year it expected unadjusted operating results of 3.1 billion euros.

Carrefour also said it had acquired 51 percent of Baolongcang, a leading supermarket chain active in the Hebei region near Beijing.

This acquisition is consistent with Carrefour s strategy of strengthening its presence in markets that are showing growth, the company said in a statement.

Carrefour, the world s second largest retailer, has been operating in China since 1995.

The company said that it had noted encouraging signs for the sector in France.

But it added that sales had fallen 8.6 percent in Belgium, affected by strikes that followed the announcement of a restructuring plan that called for closures of stores that employed 1,092 people.

Sales had also been hurt by austerity measures in Greece and by weak consumer spending in Spain and Italy.

Carrefour operates 15,669 stores worldwide, a third of them in France.

French retail giant Carrefour reports sales hike

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