Carrefour's sales growth halves in Q3

Carrefour, the largest hypermarket operator on the local market, reported a 5.6% organic growth (amid the same number of stores) in the third quarter against the same time in 2007 in Romania, twice as low compared with the growth rate recorded in the second quarter. If one also considers the network expansion, the sales growth rate in euros in the third quarter was the same as that recorded in the second quarter, of 43.5%, as revealed in the French retailer’s financial report. However, Carrefour Romania has remained among the top subsidiaries of the group in terms of organic growth rates in the third quarter, alongside companies in Brazil and Argentina. Given its expansion by 9 hypermarkets in Romania in the October 2007-September 2008 period to 17 stores and the integration of the 21 Artima supermarkets, the company’s local sales amounted to 819 million euros in the first 9 months of the year, up 41.5% against the same time in 2007.