July 29 - French retail group Casino beat forecasts with a 12 percent rise in first-half operating profit and kept its 2010 financial goals as strength in emerging markets like Brazil offset weakness at home.
France's fifth-ranked food retailer behind Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarche and Auchan reiterated its target for a 2010 net debt-to-EBITDA ratio below the 2.2 times it reached in 2009 as it said it would pursue asset sales.
Casino, which runs over 10,000 stores in 10 countries, said on Thursday that first-half operating profit rose to 541 million euros ($704 million), which beat the 501.8 million forecast in a Reuters poll.
In France, operating profit declined 5.5 percent, mainly the result of weaker sales at its Geant hypermarkets. Casino, like domestic rival Carrefour, which unveiled its quarterly sales in mid-July, has been struggling in its home market as shoppers spend less in the downturn.
Carrefour has cautioned the economic climate remained challenging with austerity measures to rein in government debt weighing on consumer demand.
Casino, which also runs Franprix and leader Price discount stores, said consolidated net sales rose 8.5 percent in the second quarter alone to 6.98 billion euros, with international sales jumping 23.6 percent.
In the French market, organic sales, excluding petrol, rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter, an improvement from a 0.9 percent decline in the first quarter reflecting notably a better performance at Leader Price.
Casino shares have gained 7 percent this year, in line with a 7.4 percent rise on the European Retail Index.