Hypermarket repositioning boosts performance
Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, has revealed strong second-quarter sales, driven by organic growth in the French market.

Like-for-like sales at French hypermarkets and supermarkets were up 3.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively, excluding petrol.

The group said it had grown its market share in France by 0.8 per cent.

Total group sales were Eu21.4 billion (£14.9 billion), increasing by 8.5 per cent based on constant exchange rates.

Sales increased by 15.4 per cent in Latin America and 13.7 per cent in Asia. Europe, excluding France, also showed a slight improvement.

The grocer said it was on track to open 16 million sq ft (1.5 million sq m) of new space in 2006. In the first six months of the year, Carrefour has either acquired or opened 423 stores.

Deutsche Bank analyst Ingrid Azoulay said: 'These numbers are the clearest indication yet that the repositioning of Carrefour's French hypermarkets has worked and that fears of irrational price competition can be put to rest.'