permarket chain Dia is to sell the French arm of its retail operation.The company made the announcement yesterday, alongside the release of its Q1 figures.
"After many months trying to improve the business in France we concluded the best option was to sell the entire operation," said Dia financial communications chief Lara Vadillo. "We have launched a plan to sell those assets," she said, declining to name an asking price for the business.
Dia's French unit generates roughly 20% of the company's annual revenue. The unit includes 865 stores, nine warehouses and employs more than 7,000 workers. It reported sales of €2.18 billion last year.
Dia said it had removed the French unit's performance from the group's adjusted earnings report for the first quarter of 2014, where it recorded sales of €1.83 billion, down from €1.87 billion in the same period last year. Excluding France, DIA operated 6,487 stores at the end of the quarter, after opening 24 new outlets.
Underlying net profit reached €40.1 million at Dia, 9.7% more than in the first quarter of 2013, with adjusted EBIT growth of 5.7% to €64.6million.
Brazil, Argentina and China continued with their extraordinary performance, with sales growth of 27.3%. Sales in its home market of Spain were up 1.4% to €1.2 billion.
