(Add analyst conference)
by Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Carrefour CARR.PA looks to 2022 with confidence after a year 2021 marked by an operating profit up 7.7% and net free cash flow of a record amount of nearly 1.23 billion euros, its CEO said on Wednesday.
On the basis of solid results, the French group announced an 8% increase in its dividend, to 0.52 euros per share against 0.48 euros in 2020, and a new share buyback program of 750 million euros. euros for the current year.
Thanks to last year’s record cash flow, Europe’s leading food retailer has a war chest for its e-commerce expansion plans after two failed tie-ups with Canada’s Couche-Tard ATDb.TO and French Auchan
AUCH.UL .
Carrefour has been engaged since January 2018 in a five-year plan to reduce costs and strengthen its investments in e-commerce in order to better withstand competition from online sales giants such as Amazon.
AMZN.O, or discount brands like Lidl and Leclerc.
Last November, the group committed to investing 3 billion euros between 2022 and 2026 to strengthen its presence in e-commerce.
Renewed last May at the head of Carrefour for three years, Alexandre Bompard says he is working on a new strategic plan and is carrying out an analysis of the group’s assets as part of this process.
This analysis continues to take its course and no decision has been made, said the CEO of Carrefour during a conference call with analysts.
The 2021 results “testify to the success of the group’s transformation and give us great confidence in our future performance,” he said, quoted in the group’s press release.
“We will look to the future with great ambition, and will present a new strategic plan at the beginning of the autumn,” he added.
MARKET SHARE GAINS
The group reported on Wednesday a current operating profit up 7.7% to 2.272 billion euros at constant exchange rates.
This profit is explained by cost reductions and an increase in turnover of 2.3% on a like-for-like basis, to 81.245 billion euros, with market share gains in key countries such as France, Spain or Brazil.
In France, where Alexandre Bompard has made the revitalization of hypermarkets a priority, current operating income increased by 20% to 757 million euros, for a turnover up by 1.8%.
The group’s operating margin in France should continue to improve, the group’s chief financial officer, Matthieu Malige, told analysts.
In an inflationary context, Carrefour also announced that it was raising its cost reduction target for the 2021-23 period to 2.7 billion euros, against an initial target of 2.4 billion euros, after having achieved 930 million euros. euros in savings in 2021.
Carrefour shares have gained 7% since the start of the year but are still trading 20% below the level they posted in July 2017, when Alexandre Bompard took office.
(Report Dominique Vidalon, written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)