Carrefour Earnings: Slowdown in France and Europe Persists as Inflation-Driven Growth Subsides

Carrefour reported half-year results with second-quarter group like-for-like sales up 10.8%. Within this, France reported negative 3.5% like-for-like growth in the period, reflecting lower inflation and price investments with volumes remaining under pressure and nonfood sales continuing to underperform (down 10.9%). Supermarket and convenience store sales were slightly negative (2.4% and 0.9% down, respectively), while sales in hypermarkets were down 5.5%. Notably, Carrefour's private-label brand now accounts for 37% of food sales, which is in line with evidence from European peers reporting private-label outperformance.