Casino store

Groupe Casino has announced that total consolidated net sales increased by 2.2 per cent to €7.3bn during the fourth quarter of 2009, with slight organic sales growth across global operations of 0.1 per cent.

The year-on-year improvement was driven by the consolidation of Ponto Frio by Grupo Pao de Açúcar from 1 July 2009, with international sales in South America and Asia climbing 13.4 per cent to €2.7bn.

Domestic sales fell 3.3 per cent through the quarter, however, down to €4.6bn, representing an organic loss of 2.7 per cent compared with the same period of 2008.

The group's French convenience formats continued to show 'good resilience', the group said, with Casino supermarkets, Monoprix and Franprix reporting stable sales over the period.