Retailer Casino's shares slump as Rallye's stock gets suspended (updated)

Finatis SA

23/05/2019 09:57

(Adds analyst comment and more details)
    By Dominique Vidalon
    PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - Shares in debt-ridden French
supermarket retailer Casino  CASP.PA  slumped on Thursday, as
trading in the shares of Casino's parent companies Rallye
 GENC.PA , Finatis  LINP.PA  and Fonciere Euris  LOEX.PA  were
suspended.
    Casino shares were down 6.3 percent by 0855 GMT.
    A spokesman for Casino said Rallye would make a statement
later on, but declined to provide further details.
    Casino, whose credit rating was further pushed into junk
status by Standard & Poor's in March and which was also
downgraded by Moody's in April, has embarked upon asset sales to
cut its debt and ease concerns over the financial position of
both Casino and its parent holding company Rallye.
    "The suspension of the parent company shares suggest that a
form of debt restructuring will have to take place in those
companies," wrote Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.
    Casino's CEO Jean-Charles Naouri controls Casino via Rallye,
which in turn is controlled by Finatis and Euris.
    Shares in both Casino and Rallye have fallen by roughly 20
percent so far in 2019, and their slump on the stock market has
drawn the attention of some hedge funds.

 (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon;
Additional reporting by Blandine Henault;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
 ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84;))