Casino Guichard-Perrachon shares rose on Wednesday after the French retailer reported an increase in sales despite a blow from “yellow vest” protests.
The company reported increases for 2018 in both organic sales, a key metric of performance that excludes newly acquired businesses, and like-for-like sales which compares the performance of the same stores year over year. Its growth offers some reassurance to investors after a year of steady share price decline.
Full year like-for-like sales for 2018 were up 3 per cent across the group, while like-for-like sales rose 3.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.
The yellow vest protests across the country have cost Casino approximately €50m in lost sales since they began in November, said finance chief David Lubek.
French like-for-like sales were up 1.5 per cent over the year, with a slightly slower fourth quarter tracking a 1.1 per cent rise.
Yellow vest protesters blocked access to some Casino stores, including Geant “hypermarkets” which make up significant percentages of sales in France, said Mr Lubek.
Shares rose 6.4 per cent on Wednesday, though share price was still below the 52-week high hit on January 2018. Fears over its debt levels resurfaced in 2018, driving its share price down.
Latin American like-for-like sales increased 6 per cent. This is despite previous concerns about the political stability in Brazil, Casino’s second-largest market.
Casino will report full-year earnings on March 14.
