Divestment has been key feature for Carrefour
- In the fourth quarter Carrefour announced the sale of its business in Colombia to Cencosud, and of its Malaysian operations to Japanese retailer Aeon. Carrefour is clearly prioritising resource allocation to more mature markets where it holds a strong position, and emerging markets where it can harness growth potential
- At the first half results presentation, when a 0.9% increase in net sales was reported, CEO Georges Plassat also outlined three areas of future focus: assets, merchandise and people
- A survey by French trade magazine Linéaires revealed that Carrefour significantly lowered prices over the first half, closing the gap with price leader Leclerc and showing that in France, the group is well on the way to delivering EDLP. The price initiatives are beginning to kick in, and Q3 results indicated signs of improvement in French hypermarkets, especially in food sales
- Carrefour has identified e-commerce as an area where it can accelerate in 2012. In line with this, it launched trials of virtual shopping walls at train stations in Lyon and Paris, during September and October
Tesco: improving UK performanceTesco
In China, Tesco closed four stores to concentrate on fewer regions and on key strategic areas. In South Korea, a sale and leaseback deal generated GBP300m which is likely to be invested back into the development of Tesco's business in the country.
First half results revealed modest group sales growth and improving UK performance, alongside a fall in group trading profit, as the retailer invests in its plan to build a better Tesco. Performance from international operations was mixed, impacted by local economic conditions.
Online has been a focus, both at home and internationally. Tesco is growing its network of dark stores in the UK, and plans to open two more over the next 18 months. In China, Tesco became the first supermarket retailer to launch a website offering recipe ideas, nutritional information and food education. Slovakia became the latest country to welcome online grocery shopping this year, following the launch of the service in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Metro confident on positioning
Third quarter sales, reported last week, were up 2%, but EBIT was down 39%. European performance was mixed, with a sales fall of 2% in Germany, and divestments (Makro UK and Saturn France) impairing growth in western Europe. In Asia/Africa, sales were up 32.2% (+19% in local currency).
Despite the difficulties and the uncertain economic outlook, Metro CEO Olaf Koch is confident that the group is on the right track with the strategic measures taken so far. The group continues to expect a rise in sales for the full year.
In central and eastern Europe, Metro is to continue expanding the Real hypermarket business in Ukraine, while there have been rumours that it is considering the sale of operations in Russia. Metro revealed a new management structure at Real, as it attempts to realign the business and improve its profitability.
Further east, more cash & carry outlets are expected to open in India by the end of the year, taking the total to 15. Metro sees potential for more than 100 Indian stores in the long term.
Walmart's multichannel developments continue
At the annual analysts' meeting in October, Walmart outlined its plans for growth. These include accelerating small format store growth in the US, investing in price and e-commerce.
Multichannel developments have continued apace. The launch of an advanced search engine for Walmart.com, tests of a self-scanning app and same-day delivery for online, and this week's collaboration between Mattel and Walmart Canada all reinforce the importance of e-commerce, in which CEO Mike Duke has said "we will play to win."
Second quarter results, at the end of August, indicated ongoing momentum at home, with four successive quarters of positive comparable sales growth delivered in the core US stores. Although international growth slowed, these operations continue to be Walmart's main growth engine.
