Carrefour Sales Drop On Forex, French Fuel Prices

French supermarket giant Carrefour SA (CA.FR, CRRFY) on Thursday said third-quarter sales slipped 0.1% because of weaker currencies in Latin America and lower fuel prices in France.

Third-quarter sales fell to 21.08 billion euros ($27 billion) from EUR21.1 billion a year earlier. Excluding the foreign-currency effect and fuel-price fluctuation, sales rose 2.8%, the retailer said.

Carrefour reported its seventh consecutive quarter of organic growth, Carrefour’s Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Jean Sivignon told reporters in a conference call.

Sales in France, which account for nearly half its total sales, fell 1.1% to EUR10.04 billion, mainly due to cheaper fuel. Excluding the effect of fuel prices, sales in France rose 0.2%.

The performance is notable since the poor weather in Europe during the summer and low inflation had an adverse effect on the company’s sales.

Mr. Sivignon reiterated that the market consensus for operating profit at EUR2.38 billion for 2014 is “reasonable.”

Source : Market watch