The acquisition of the Billa operations will enable Carrefour to narrow the gap to market leader Kaufland and put more distance between it and the third leading retailer Auchan.
Carrefour’s revenue as a group should therefore reach RON7.3 billion to RON7.5 billion, according to ZF estimates.
Average sales per Billa store stood at RON17.7 million in 2015, up from RON16.6 million in 2014. Despite the 6% increase, the sales per store are still far from the boom years’ level, when each supermarket generated double as much, RON36.1 million.
The return to growth of the Billa stores came at a time of retail sales growth by 9% in 2015, according to the National Statistics Institute. The figures take into account expansion of the retail chains. (EUR1=RON4.5021)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)