Rest of Europe remains weak
French-owned international supermarket Carrefour has reported better-than-expected domestic sales growth in its first-quarter results.

In France, hypermarket sales rose 4.3 per cent and like-for-likes were up 2.7 per cent. Overall, the number of transactions was down, but the average basket size increased by almost 2 per cent.

Deutsche bank analyst Ingrid Azoulay said: 'We believe these numbers represent a step change in the performance of Carrefour's French hypermarkets. We don't think this is market driven. Instead, Carrefour's flexing of its strategic muscle to permanently distance itself from its competitors is coming to fruition earlier than expected.'

The group said its performance continued to be weak in the rest of Europe, with flat like-for-like sales, lower promotional activity and weak volumes generally. Weaker trends were also evident in Thailand, Taiwan and Brazil. However, outlets in Argentina, Colombia, China and Malaysia reported good growth.

Across the group as a whole there was sales growth of 6 per cent. Like-for-like sales in hypermarkets were up 2.7 per cent and 3.2 per cent in supermarkets.

The group said plans to open 16.1 million sq ft (1.5 million sq m) of new store space next year remained on track.