Last year’s results, however, were generated by a network of 70 stores, compared with 41 in 2008. Carrefour opened two hypermarkets and 13 supermarkets last year alone. The like-for-like sales were down against in 2011, this time by 0.7%.
The data provided by the retailer show slower decline from 9.1% in 2009 and 5% in 2010, to less than 1% now.
The decline in the like-for-like sales of the French company began in the first quarter of 2009 and continued for nine quarters in a row. The first good news came in the second quarter of 2011 when Carrefour announced like-for-like growth of 1.4%. The positive trend continued in the third quarter, only to be reversed in the fourth. The 2.5% like-for-like decline in a quarter when people usually buy more than they do in the rest of the year because of the Christmas holidays shows Romanians are still reluctant to spend money.
These figures partly offset the good news coming from the National Statistics Institute, which said that consumer spending had gone up by 2% or 3% in October and November.
The financial crisis hurt the business of the major retailers, which tried to compensate by opening new stores. Whereas Carrefour had 41 stores at the end of 2008 (21 hypermarkets and 20 supermarkets), the retailer currently owns 70 stores (45 supermarkets and 25 hypermarkets). The investments in the new projects amounted to more than EUR100 million, according to ZF estimations.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)