Carrefour operating profit better than expected, says it is confident for 2026 (updated)

Carrefour SA

17/02/2026 17:36

Adds French market and more competitive prices, CEO quote in paragraphs 2,-3, Brazil and Spain sales in paragraph 11 and dividend in paragraph 17

Carrefour's operating profit declines less than expected in 2025

French market shows signs of recovery, CEO says

Carrefour announces dividend increase and special dividend

Retailer set to announce new strategic plan on Wednesday

By Dominique Vidalon and Helen Reid

PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour CARR.PA reported a decline in operating profit that was slightly better than expected on Tuesday, ahead of a new strategic plan to be set out by CEO Alexandre Bompard to turn around its performance.

As consumers in its core French market begin to recover from a surge in inflation, Carrefour said it hopes to draw more shoppers into its stores due to more competitive prices.

"We approach 2026 with confidence in both the underlying market dynamics and our model's ability to capture consumption momentum," Bompard said on a call with analysts.

Carrefour reported 2.158 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in group operating profit for 2025, a 5.4% decline, dragged down by 210 million euros in integration costs from its acquisition of the Cora and Match stores in France.

Still, that was better than the 2.051 billion euros analysts were expecting, according to LSEG estimates.

RETURN TO GROWTH

Carrefour's comparable sales grew just 0.4% in France in the fourth quarter, as chief financial officer Matthieu Malige said shoppers were trading down to less expensive products in the Christmas shopping period. Comparable sales grew 1.6% for the group overall.

But the French food retail market returned to growth in 2025, Malige said, after volumes declined for two years running due to inflation.

"French consumers' sentiment is improving and their purchasing power is recovering after the inflationary surge of 2022-2023," Malige told journalists on a call.

"Our investments in 2025 to become more competitive helped improve our price positioning compared to the market, and enabled us to maintain market share," he added.

In Brazil, where high interest rates have dented consumer spending, Carrefour reported flat sales in the fourth quarter. Sales in Spain, which is enjoying a stronger economy than average in Europe, grew 2%.

DECLINING PROFIT, LOWER MARGIN

Carrefour's operating profit margin has declined every year since the pandemic, from 3.1% in 2021 to 2.6% in 2025, as Carrefour lost market share in France to competitors like privately owned E. Leclerc, and its large out-of-town hypermarkets suffered from the shift to online shopping.

Bompard will set out his new strategic plan for the company, and give guidance for 2026, on Wednesday. Despite the previous two strategy plans, Carrefour's share price is still down nearly 29% since July 2017 when Bompard took over.

Carrefour is also disposing of non-core assets and last week announced the planned sale of its Romanian business for 823 million euros, having sold its loss-making Italy business in December. Excluding Italy, net free cash flow stood at 1.565 billion euros last year.

Carrefour announced a dividend of 0.97 euro per share, a 5.4% increase on 2024, as well as a special dividend of 0.21 per share if the Romania sale closes successfully.

($1 = 0.8460 euro)

Carrefour shares have declined 28% since CEO Bompard started in the job https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CARREFOUR-RESULTS/xmvjqzyajpr/chart.png

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon: Editing by Helen Reid and David Holmes)

((dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; Reuters Messaging: dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net/))