Casino store

Groupe Casino has announced a positive set of overall results for the third quarter of the year, with consolidated net sales climbing 21.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, up to €8.7bn.

International sales were the main performance driver, growing 50.1 per cent (13.1 per cent organically) on the same period of 2010 to just under €4bn.

There was double-digit organic sales growth in South America of 13.6 per cent, lifted by a sustained increase in same-store sales in Brazil and Colombia, while Asia jumped 15.3 per cent on the back of strong sales at Big C in Thailand and 'continued remarkable growth' in Vietnam.

The group's home market of France saw yearly sales rise slightly by 4.3 per cent, up to €4.74bn, with Casino highlighting good performances by its convenience formats and strong growth in e-commerce.

Underlying sales growth in France actually slowed to 1.2 per cent through the quarter, however, down from the 2.2 per cent recorded in the first six months of the year.