A Carrefour store in Spain. (Photo: Neeyda Roldan Logrono)
SPAIN
Monday, January 21, 2013, 00:20 (GMT + 9)
The French company Carrefour retail distribution achieved an overall turnover of EUR 86,558 million in 2012, a figure that shows an increase of 1 per cent over the previous year.
This slight increase was due to the growth in Latin America (4.8 per cent), which offset declines of 4.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent in Spain and Italy, respectively.
With regard to the Spanish market, the company has accumulated four years of declining sales by the persistent weakness of consumption, newspaper El Pais informed.
In the Spanish market Carrefour sales totaled EUR 9,039 million last year, 4.1 per cent less than in 2011.
Only in Q4, sales totaled EUR in Spain 2,440 million, which is 4.8 per cent less than in the same period last year.
Last October, Carrefour reported that this decrease was due to the government's decision to increase VAT general rate from 18 per cent to 21 per cent from 1 September, and the reduced one, from 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
Globally, in the fourth quarter of 2012 Carrefour’s turnover was EUR 22,853 million, a figure that represents an increase of 0.8 per cent, despite declining sales in Spain and Italy (7.8 per cent).
Looking at the performance of Carrefour in other countries, Argentina recorded a sales increase of 19.6 per cent, with sales throughout 2012 of EUR 3,600 million, EFE reports.
In Brazil, the largest Latin American market for Carrefour, sales increased 1.2 per cent, to EUR 12,540 million.
Meanwhile, in Italy it recorded the biggest drop, of 5.7 per cent, with total sales of EUR 5,720 million.
In France, revenue amounted to EUR 10,537 million in Q4, leading annual sales to EUR 39,533 million, that is to say, 0.1 per cent more than in the previous year.
Finally, sales in Asia increased in the fourth quarter of 2012 by 5.6 per cent to EUR 1,661 million, bringing annual sales to EUR 7,218 million, 10 per cent more than in 2011.
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