(AFP / DAMIEN MEYER)
The end of the Jean-Charles Naouri era at Casino, between asset sales, union anger and legal investigations, owes as much to management “errors”, stigmatized even to the Ministry of the Economy, as to silence of all those who might have had reservations.
. Game over
“On the date of completion of the financial restructuring, Mr. Jean-Charles Naouri will resign from all his functions with immediate effect” and “without severance pay”. The group’s financial communication very abruptly describes the end of the reign of the man who presided over its destiny for so many years.
The future buyer, Daniel Kretinsky, said he would like Jean-Charles Naouri to play a role in “his” future Casino. It no longer seems to be a question.
This exit through the back door contrasts with the assurance hammered out over the years by Pierre Bérégovoy’s former chief of staff, and by his teams.
A year before handing over the keys to the distributor, the financial report for the year 2022 opened with a “manifesto” in which the CEO assured that the group had “demonstrated that it knew how to resist and get ever closer to its clients”.
However, it was that year that the prices charged by the group reached peaks, driving away many consumers.
. “Very vertical” group
In July and then in December 2023, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire denounced “the strategic errors made over several years” by Casino management, believing that French employees did not have to pay the price.
This will ultimately be the case: the distributor’s workforce will increase from 50,000 at the end of 2022 to 28,212 after selling numerous stores to its competitors Intermarché, Auchan and Carrefour. For those who change brands, social conditions will no longer be the same.
After having “brought” the distributor Rallye to Casino, it was Jean-Charles Naouri who reoriented the group of Saint-Etienne origin towards proximity and city centers with strong purchasing power, at a time when large-scale distribution swears than through the hypermarket. Monoprix, Franprix, the strong brands in what Daniel Kretinsky is taking over, are purchases made by the future ex-CEO.
. Errors and isolation
Formerly described as a “nursery of talent”, Casino has seen its best people leave over the years.
The counter-powers that may have existed internally have gradually faded away, and the feedback from the field, in particular the alerts on prices that are too high or the discontent over the proliferation of automatic checkouts, have not been followed up, accusing trade unions.
Chairman of the board of directors, general manager, largest shareholder: Jean-Charles Naouri has concentrated powers within the Casino group since at least 2005.
His very brilliant career – Finance Inspectorate, doctorate in mathematics, management of Pierre Bérégovoy’s office at the Ministries of Social Affairs and the Economy, investment banker at Rotschild… – and numerous economic successes have enabled him to enjoy with a long immaculate aura, not encouraging opposition.
Several people familiar with the company confirmed this observation from a former close friend: “People did not dare to speak in front of him, and did what he said even knowing that it was stupidity.”
. What external counter-powers?
The distributor’s collapse also raises the question of external responsibilities. It was an American short seller, Muddy Waters, who highlighted in 2015 the fragilities of a group which grew through debt.
Casino and its CEO insist that it is the attacks of these funds, which bet on the fall in company shares, which have suffocated the group.
What responsibility do public authorities have? Difficult to intervene in the management of a private company.
In an interview with the local daily Le Progrès, the former President of the Republic François Hollande pointed out the responsibility of the creditor banks: “how were they able to support” Casino “even though there were alerts”?
The Financial Markets Authority (AMF), contacted in 2016, waited until July 2023 to heavily sanction the parent company of the distributor, Rallye, for disseminating “false or misleading” information in 2018-2019.
And the conclusions of a judicial investigation into alleged acts of stock price manipulation and active and passive private corruption in particular, which also allegedly took place in 2018-2019, are still not known.
Finally, the shareholders, family or individuals, have long followed management.
“No one on the Paris market can claim to have been taken by surprise” by the distributor’s rout, observed the economic daily Les Echos in an editorial in January. “We will have to learn the lessons of a descent into hell, the cost of which could at least have been reduced.”