The giants of European retail had a difficult 2002 as sales missed target. The final quarter proved particularly tough.
Sales at Europe's biggest player, Carrefour, slipped 1.6 per cent.
Even after taking out the impact of foreign exchange, which left turnover ahead by 4.5 per cent, Carrefour was below its targeted 5 per cent growth.
Despite the slow sales growth, Carrefour said it is confident profits will grow by nearly 15 per cent. The retailer publishes profit figures at the beginning of March.
German retailer Metro also said it is sticking to its earnings goals, despite missing its sales targets. Growth of up to 5.5 per cent had been predicted, but sales came in at EUR51.5 billion (£33.88 billion), up just 4 per cent.
Sales outside of Metro's difficult domestic market were up 8.2 per cent and this, together with strength in non-food sales, means Metro is confident of hitting profits growth of 10 per cent.
Belgian food retailer Delhaize suffered particularly from a declining US dollar and saw annual sales slump 3.3 per cent. Full-year sales growth in Europe and Asia exceeded 7 per cent.
The tough US market has prompted Delhaize to shut 42 stores in the country by the end of January and implement other cost-saving measures. However, more stores are set to open.
Ahold enjoyed the biggest sales increase of the four companies, and last week reported a 9.2 per cent rise. But it expects profits to fall by up to 8 per cent.
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