Earnings Release • Oct 20, 2021
Earnings Release
Open in ViewerOpens in native device viewer

Alexandre Bompard, Chairman and CEO, declared: "We posted another quarter of growth at Group level, despite a very high comparable base, and continued to gain market share in most of our countries. Our trajectory is very solid and demonstrates our ability to generate structural growth thanks to our strong customer-centric approach, good control over our operations, notably in digital, and impactful strategic initiatives. Our net free cash-flow objective for FY 2021, which was raised in July, is confirmed. With these favorable dynamics, its robust balance sheet, and thanks to the commitment of its teams, Carrefour is attractive and on the offensive, for the benefit of its customers and its shareholders."
Note: (1) sum of Q3 2020 LFL and Q3 2021 LFL; (2) based on NielsenIQ RMS data
| Third-quarter 2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total variation | |||||
| Sales inc. VAT (€m) |
LFL1 | At current exchange rates |
At constant exchange rates |
||
| France | 9,882 | -0.3% | +2.1% | +2.1% | |
| Europe | 5,864 | -1.2% | +0.9% | +1.4% | |
| Latin America (pre-IAS 29) | 4,005 | +7.3% | +10.8% | +14.7% | |
| Asia | 718 | -5.2% | +22.3% | +16.8% | |
| Group (pre-IAS 29) | 20,468 | +0.8% | +4.0% | +4.6% | |
| IAS 292 | 112 | ||||
| Group (post-IAS 29) | 20,581 |
In a context still marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and evolving sanitary conditions across its different markets, the Group's third-quarter activity confirmed its good commercial momentum. Carrefour continued to gain market share in the vast majority of its countries, thanks to the improvement in customer satisfaction, which is at the heart of the Carrefour 2022 strategic plan. The Group's expansion also continues at a steady pace, thanks to numerous organic openings as well as the successful integration of recent acquisitions. E-commerce sales continued to grow on extremely high comparables. The Group will provide a comprehensive presentation of its digital strategy during its Digital Day, which will be held in Paris on November 9.
On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, third-quarter sales inc. VAT were up +0.8%. The Group's sales inc. VAT reached €20,468m pre-IAS 29, an increase of +4.6% at constant exchange rates. This increase includes a favorable petrol effect of +2.0% (reflecting an increase in oil prices and higher volumes). After taking into account an unfavorable exchange rate of -0.7%, due to the weakness of the Argentine peso, the total sales variation at current exchange rates amounted to +4.0%. The impact of the application of IAS 29 was +€112m.
In France, Q3 2021 revenue was down -0.3% on a LFL basis (+0.8% LFL in food and -7.1% LFL in non-food) in a declining market, given a high comparable base. Hypermarkets were temporarily impacted by the introduction of the sanitary pass, restricting access to large shopping malls from mid-August to the end of September. Excluding the impact of the sanitary pass, LFL growth in France is estimated at +0.5% in Q3. Market share continued to improve over the quarter, with gains in most formats3 . On a two year stack4 , reported LFL growth reached +3.5%.
Sum of Q3 2020 LFL and Q3 2021 LFL
1 Excluding petrol and calendar effects and at constant exchange rates
2 Hyperinflation and foreign exchange in Argentina
3 Market share based on NielsenIQ RMS data for total food and non-food sales for the 13-week period ending 26/09/2021 for Carrefour Group, Carrefour Supermarkets, Carrefour Convenience and Carrefour Drive vs the French total retail market (Copyright © 2021, NielsenIQ) 4
Food e-commerce in France grew again strongly this quarter (+19%), a growth of +72% vs 2019. Carrefour continues to deploy many initiatives in this field, notably the recent acquisition of a minority stake in Cajoo, a French pioneer in quick commerce
In Europe, LFL sales were down -1.2% compared to Q3 2020, but up +0.6% over two years. This reflects situations that were not uniform across countries:
In Latin America, LFL sales increased by +7.3%, and by +35.7% over two years.
In Taiwan (Asia), Q3 sales were up +16.8% at constant exchange rates, thanks notably to the integration of Wellcome stores. LFL sales were down -5.2% (-4.5% over 2 years), impacted by the sanitary measures that penalized important festive events in the country. Wellcome stores, whose conversion to Carrefour banners will be finalized in November, significantly outperform when converted.
As part of its plan to dispose €300m additional non-strategic real estate assets by 2022, the Group sold the real estate of 7 hypermarkets in Spain in September, through a sale & lease-back agreement with Realty Income, for €93m.
To date, the Group has disposed an additional €250m of non-strategic real estate assets.
In October, Carrefour Italy announced, as part of a broad recovery plan, an acceleration of its transformation, that notably includes the transfer to a franchising model of over 50 stores in 2021 and 25 in the first quarter of 2022.
In France, the Group will have transferred 10 hypermarkets and 44 supermarkets to lease-management this year. A new program of 43 stores (16 hypermarkets and 27 supermarkets) was announced, with the first transfers expected starting in March 2022.
The Group pays particular attention to the dynamics of inflation, notably regarding energy and food prices. The impact of the increase in commodity prices has had a limited impact on the Group's performance to date, as it benefits from contracts negotiated for the whole year for most of its purchases in Europe, including goods not for resale. For now, the Group does not anticipate any material effect of inflation on its full-year 2021 performance.
In this context, and given its good operational performance in the third quarter, the Group confirms its net free cash-flow generation objective for 2021, which continues to be expected comfortably above the initial objective of €1bn.
Digital Day : November 9, 2021
Investor Relations Sébastien Valentin, Anthony Guglielmo and Antoine Parison Tel: +33 (0)1 64 50 82 57 Shareholder Relations Tel: 0 805 902 902 (toll-free in France) Group Communication Tel: +33 (0)1 58 47 88 80
On October 20, 2021, the Board of Directors, pursuant to the authorization granted by the Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting, decided to decrease the share capital of Carrefour S.A. by way of cancellation of 12,252,723 treasury shares representing approximately 1.6 % of the share capital.
These shares were repurchased from August 2, 2021 to September 13, 2021 within the framework of the €200 million share buyback program decided by the Board of Directors on July 28, 2021.
After the cancellation of these shares, the outstanding number of Carrefour S.A. shares will be 775,895,892 and the number of treasury shares will hence be 9,457,539, representing approximately 1.2 % of the share capital. The number of shares carrying voting rights will thus stand at 766,438,353.
The Group's sales amounted to €20,468m pre-IAS 29. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact in the third quarter of -0.7%, due to the depreciation of the Argentine Peso. Petrol had a favorable impact of +2.0%. The calendar effect was a favorable +0.1%. The effect of openings was +0.9%. The effect of acquisitions was +2.1%. The impact of the application of IAS 29 was +€112m.
| Sales inc. VAT (€m) |
Variation ex petrol ex calendar |
Total variation inc. petrol |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LFL | Organic | at current exchange rates |
at constant exchange rates |
||
| France | 9,882 | -0.3% | -2.0% | +2.1% | +2.1% |
| Hypermarkets | 4,867 | -2.8% | -3.3% | -0.2% | -0.2% |
| Supermarkets | 3,295 | +2.2% | -2.4% | +2.7% | +2.7% |
| Convenience /other formats | 1,720 | +2.5% | +2.7% | +8.0% | +8.0% |
| Other European countries | 5,864 | -1.2% | -1.7% | +0.9% | +1.4% |
| Spain | 2,681 | -2.3% | -2.2% | +3.9% | +3.9% |
| Italy | 1,073 | +0.8% | -3.5% | -2.5% | -2.5% |
| Belgium | 1,010 | -5.4% | -5.4% | -5.1% | -5.1% |
| Poland | 499 | +0.9% | +1.7% | +0.1% | +2.9% |
| Romania | 601 | +5.9% | +7.3% | +5.5% | +7.3% |
| Latin America (pre-IAS 29) | 4,005 | +7.3% | +10.2% | +10.8% | +14.7% |
| Brazil | 3,369 | -1.8% | +2.1% | +9.7% | +7.7% |
| Argentina (pre-IAS 29) | 636 | +57.0% | +56.9% | +16.9% | +56.6% |
| Asia | 718 | -5.2% | -5.6% | +22.3% | +16.8% |
| Taiwan | 718 | -5.2% | -5.6% | +22.3% | +16.8% |
| Group total (pre-IAS 29) | 20,468 | +0.8% | +0.3% | +4.0% | +4.6% |
| IAS 29(1) | 112 | ||||
| Group total (post-IAS 29) | 20,581 |
Note: (1) hyperinflation and foreign exchange
| LFL change excl. petrol and calendar |
Q3 2020 | Q3 2021 | 2-year stack(1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | +3.8% | -0.3% | +3.5% |
| Hypermarkets | +2.5% | -2.8% | -0.3% |
| Supermarkets | +4.9% | +2.2% | +7.1% |
| Convenience /other formats | +5.4% | +2.5% | +7.9% |
| Other European countries | +1.9% | -1.2% | +0.6% |
| Spain | +6.3% | -2.3% | +3.9% |
| Italy | -8.0% | +0.8% | -7.2% |
| Belgium | +5.4% | -5.4% | -0.0% |
| Poland | -1.4% | +0.9% | -0.5% |
| Romania | +0.0% | +5.9% | +5.9% |
| Latin America | +28.4% | +7.3% | +35.7% |
| Brazil | +26.0% | -1.8% | +24.2% |
| Argentina | +41.4% | +57.0% | +98.4% |
| Asia | +0.6% | -5.2% | -4.5% |
| Taiwan | +0.6% | -5.2% | -4.5% |
| Group total | +8.4% | +0.8% | +9.2% |
Note: (1) sum of Q3 2020 LFL and Q3 2021 LFL
| Calendar | Petrol | Foreign exchange |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| France | +0.1% | +3.8% | - |
| Hypermarkets | +0.0% | +3.2% | - |
| Supermarkets | +0.3% | +4.7% | - |
| Convenience /other formats | +0.1% | +4.1% | - |
| Other European countries | +0.2% | +1.0% | -0.5% |
| Spain | +0.0% | +1.7% | - |
| Italy | +0.3% | +0.7% | - |
| Belgium | +0.4% | - | - |
| Poland | +0.6% | +0.6% | -2.8% |
| Romania | +0.1% | +0.0% | -1.9% |
| Latin America | -0.1% | +0.7% | -3.9% |
| Brazil | +0.0% | +1.1% | +2.1% |
| Argentina | -0.3% | - | -39.7% |
| Asia | +1.4% | - | +5.5% |
| Taiwan | +1.4% | - | +5.5% |
| Group total | +0.1% | +2.0% | -0.7% |
The Group's sales amounted to €58,725m pre-IAS 29. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact in the first nine months of the year of -3.5%, due to the depreciation of the Argentine Peso and the Brazilian Real. Petrol had a favorable impact of +1.5%. The calendar effect was an unfavorable -0.4%. The effect of openings was +0.8%. The effect of acquisitions was +1.8%. The impact of the application of IAS 29 was +€175m.
| Variation ex petrol ex calendar Sales |
Total variation inc. petrol |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| inc. VAT (€m) |
LFL | Organic | at current exchange rates |
at constant exchange rates |
|
| France | 28,697 | +2.6% | +0.5% | +3.0% | +3.0% |
| Hypermarkets | 14,175 | +1.5% | +0.9% | +2.5% | +2.5% |
| Supermarkets | 9,754 | +5.4% | -0.1% | +3.7% | +3.7% |
| Convenience /other formats | 4,768 | +0.5% | +0.7% | +3.0% | +3.0% |
| Other European countries | 17,127 | -1.6% | -1.8% | -0.3% | +0.2% |
| Spain | 7,475 | -1.2% | -0.9% | +3.6% | +3.6% |
| Italy | 3,237 | -4.8% | -7.9% | -6.9% | -6.9% |
| Belgium | 3,192 | -3.2% | -3.1% | -3.6% | -3.6% |
| Poland | 1,497 | +1.8% | +2.6% | -0.4% | +2.5% |
| Romania | 1,727 | +4.1% | +5.5% | +3.4% | +5.2% |
| Latin America (pre-IAS 29) | 10,924 | +11.2% | +13.9% | -1.4% | +16.2% |
| Brazil | 9,182 | +3.9% | +7.3% | -1.2% | +10.6% |
| Argentina (pre-IAS 29) | 1,742 | +45.3% | +45.2% | -2.3% | +44.7% |
| Asia | 1,976 | -4.5% | -6.1% | +14.4% | +14.3% |
| Taiwan | 1,976 | -4.5% | -6.1% | +14.4% | +14.3% |
| Group total (pre-IAS 29) | 58,725 | +2.9% | +2.3% | +1.5% | +5.0% |
| IAS 29(1) | 175 | ||||
| Group total (post-IAS 29) | 58,900 |
Note: (1) hyperinflation and foreign exchange
| LFL change excl. petrol and calendar |
9M 2020 | 9M 2021 | 2-year stack(1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | +2.9% | +2.6% | +5.5% |
| Hypermarkets | -0.1% | +1.5% | +1.5% |
| Supermarkets | +5.7% | +5.4% | +11.1% |
| Convenience /other formats | +6.2% | +0.5% | +6.7% |
| Other European countries | +4.2% | -1.6% | +2.6% |
| Spain | +7.5% | -1.2% | +6.3% |
| Italy | -4.4% | -4.8% | -9.2% |
| Belgium | +9.2% | -3.2% | +6.0% |
| Poland | +0.9% | +1.8% | +2.7% |
| Romania | +2.3% | +4.1% | +6.4% |
| Latin America | +22.2% | +11.2% | +33.4% |
| Brazil | +16.4% | +3.9% | +20.3% |
| Argentina | +53.9% | +45.3% | +99.2% |
| Asia | +1.6% | -4.5% | -2.9% |
| Taiwan | +1.6% | -4.5% | -2.9% |
| Group total | +7.5% | +2.9% | +10.4% |
Note: (1) sum of 9M 2020 LFL and 9M 2021 LFL
| Calendar | Petrol | Foreign exchange |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| France | -0.4% | +2.9% | - |
| Hypermarkets | -0.5% | +2.1% | - |
| Supermarkets | -0.3% | +4.0% | - |
| Convenience / other formats | -0.3% | +2.8% | - |
| Other European countries | -0.4% | +0.9% | -0.4% |
| Spain | -0.6% | +1.5% | - |
| Italy | +0.1% | +0.8% | - |
| Belgium | -0.5% | - | - |
| Poland | -0.6% | +0.5% | -2.9% |
| Romania | -0.3% | +0.0% | -1.8% |
| Latin America | -0.6% | +0.2% | -17.6% |
| Brazil | -0.5% | +0.6% | -11.8% |
| Argentina | -0.5% | - | -47.0% |
| Asia | +0.4% | - | +0.1% |
| Taiwan | +0.4% | - | +0.1% |
| Group total | -0.4% | +1.5% | -3.5% |
The impact on Group sales is presented in the table below:
| Sales incl. VAT (€m) | 2020 pre-IAS 29(1) |
LFL(2) | Calendar | Openings | Scope and others(3) |
Petrol | 2021 at constant rates pre-IAS 29 |
Forex | 2021 at current rates pre-IAS 29 |
IAS 29(4) | 2021 at current rates post-IAS 29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 19,445 | +4.2% | -1.0% | +0.8% | -0.6% | -1.1% | +2.2% | -6.7% | 18,564 | +13 | 18,577 |
| Q2 | 18,710 | +3.6% | -0.4% | +0.8% | +0.6% | +3.8% | +8.3% | -3.0% | 19,692 | +49 | 19,742 |
| H1 | 38,155 | +3.9% | -0.7% | +0.8% | +0.0% | +1.3% | +5.2% | -4.9% | 38,256 | +63 | 38,319 |
| Q3 | 19,690 | +0.8% | +0.1% | +0.9% | +0.9% | +2.0% | +4.6% | -0.7% | 20,468 | +112 | 20,581 |
| 9M | 57,845 | +2.9% | -0.4% | +0.8% | +0.3% | +1.5% | +5.0% | -3.5% | 58,725 | +175 | 58,900 |
Notes: (1) restated for IFRS 5; (2) excluding petrol and calendar effects and at constant exchange rates; (3) including transfers; (4) hyperinflation and foreign exchange
| Thousands of sq. m | Dec. 31 2020 |
June 30 2021 |
Openings/ Store enlargements |
Acquisitions | Closures/ Store reductions/ Disposals |
Q3 2021 change |
Sept. 30 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 5,507 | 5,543 | +23 | +4 | -8 | +19 | 5,563 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 6,165 | 5,914 | +38 | - | -79 | -41 | 5,873 |
| Latin America | 2,717 | 2,870 | +39 | - | - | +39 | 2,909 |
| Asia | 1,035 | 1,140 | +5 | - | -3 | +2 | 1,142 |
| (1) Others |
1,486 | 1,480 | +25 | - | -4 | +21 | 1,501 |
| Group | 16,910 | 16,947 | +130 | +4 | -94 | +41 | 16,988 |
| N° of stores | Dec. 31 2020 |
June 30 2021 |
Openings | Acquisitions | Closures/ Disposals |
Transfers | Total Q3 2021 change |
Sept. 30 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypermarkets | 1,212 | 1,224 | +6 | - | -4 | - | +2 | 1,226 |
| France | 248 | 253 | - | - | - | - | - | 253 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 456 | 455 | +2 | - | -4 | - | -2 | 453 |
| Latin America | 185 | 184 | - | - | - | - | - | 184 |
| Asia | 172 | 172 | +3 | - | - | - | +3 | 175 |
| Others (1) |
151 | 160 | +1 | - | - | - | +1 | 161 |
| Supermarkets | 3,546 | 3,521 | +56 | - | -50 | -1 | +5 | 3,526 |
| France | 1,173 | 1,048 | +3 | - | -1 | -3 | -1 | 1,047 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 1,864 | 1,904 | +30 | - | -47 | +2 | -15 | 1,889 |
| Latin America | 151 | 150 | - | - | - | - | - | 150 |
| Asia | 10 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | 12 |
| (1) Others |
348 | 407 | +23 | - | -2 | - | +21 | 428 |
| Convenience stores | 7,827 | 8,435 | +133 | +14 | -92 | - | +55 | 8,490 |
| France | 4,018 | 4,218 | +49 | +14 | -22 | - | +41 | 4,259 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 3,156 | 3,344 | +74 | - | -63 | - | +11 | 3,355 |
| Latin America | 530 | 535 | +10 | - | -1 | - | +9 | 544 |
| Asia | 66 | 287 | - | - | -6 | - | -6 | 281 |
| Others (1) |
57 | 51 | - | - | - | - | - | 51 |
| Cash & carry | 392 | 419 | +8 | - | -1 | - | +7 | 426 |
| France | 147 | 146 | +1 | - | -1 | - | - | 146 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 13 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | 13 |
| Latin America | 214 | 242 | +7 | - | - | - | +7 | 249 |
| Asia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Others |
18 | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | 18 |
| Soft discount (Supeco) | 71 | 96 | +4 | - | -2 | +3 | +5 | 101 |
| France | 6 | 14 | +3 | - | - | +3 | +6 | 20 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 64 | 81 | +1 | - | -2 | - | -1 | 80 |
| Latin America | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Asia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| (1) Others |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Group | 13,048 | 13,695 | +207 | +14 | -149 | +2 | +74 | 13,769 |
| France | 5,592 | 5,679 | +56 | +14 | -24 | - | +46 | 5,725 |
| Europe (ex Fr) | 5,553 | 5,797 | +107 | - | -116 | +2 | -7 | 5,790 |
| Latin America | 1,081 | 1,112 | +17 | - | -1 | - | +16 | 1,128 |
| Asia | 248 | 471 | +3 | - | -6 | - | -3 | 468 |
| Others (1) |
574 | 636 | +24 | - | -2 | - | +22 | 658 |
Note: (1) Africa, Middle East and Dominican Republic
Free cash flow corresponds to cash flow from operating activities before net finance costs and net interests related to lease commitment, after the change in working capital, less net cash from/(used in) investing activities.
Net free cash flow corresponds to free cash flow after net finance costs and net lease payments.
Sales generated by stores opened for at least twelve months, excluding temporary store closures, at constant exchange rates, excluding petrol and calendar effects and excluding IAS 29 impact.
Like for like sales growth plus net openings over the past twelve months, including temporary store closures, at constant exchange rates.
Gross margin corresponds to the sum of net sales and other income, reduced by loyalty program costs and cost of goods sold. Cost of sales comprise purchase costs, changes in inventory, the cost of products sold by the financial services companies, discounting revenue and exchange rate gains and losses on goods purchased.
Recurring Operating Income corresponds to the gross margin lowered by sales, general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization.
Recurring Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) also excludes depreciation and amortization from supply chain activities which is booked in cost of goods sold.
Operating Income (EBIT) corresponds to the recurring operating income after income from associates and joint ventures and non-recurring income and expenses. This latter classification is applied to certain material items of income and expense that are unusual in terms of their nature and frequency, such as impairment of non-current assets, gains and losses on sales of non-current assets, restructuring costs and provisions recorded to reflect revised estimates of risks provided for in prior periods, based on information that came to the Group's attention during the reporting year.
® Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld and Satmetrix Systems, Inc
This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Carrefour management's current views and assumptions. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Group. Actual results or performances may differ materially from those in such forward looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the risks described in the documents filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers as part of the regulated information disclosure requirements and available on Carrefour's website (www.carrefour.com), and in particular the Annual Report (Document de Référence). These documents are also available in English on the company's website. Investors may obtain a copy of these documents from Carrefour free of charge. Carrefour does not assume any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements in the future.
Building tools?
Free accounts include 100 API calls/year for testing.
Have a question? We'll get back to you promptly.