5 of its operating result before nonrecurring items 1

Review of pass successful, Friday, for Jose Luis Duran, that recurring rumours in recent weeks were therefore landed by its Board. His latest releases public, indeed, had not contributed only to the maintenance of the course of quotes from Carrefour, whose value has lost almost a third since the beginning of the year. This time, the Director General of the number two global distribution was satisfied. And those who expected a warning result have been relieved. The action was at the time recorded the highest increase in the CAC 40 ( 7,21), to finish at 36,13 EUR. Now under the close tutelage of Amaury de Seze, the new President of the Board of Directors, of Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH (owner of the "voices") , said, do not lack an opportunity to push the door of the Carrefour stores in thousand places of the familiar world of the luxury and Sébastien Bazin, President Europe us Fund Colony Capital (both together)(, otherwise United, Blue Capital within, in the first shareholder of the Distributor), the young boss was not entitled to the error.

Best performance

Stay, José Luis Duran Commenting on Friday before the publication of the half-year results press, he instead gave the image of a serene and sure of his leader. "If forty-three years, it does not concern the future with optimism...". ", he launched, cryptic, stating that the meeting of 26 August, nothing was left glimpse an any disagreement of the Board of Directors with its strategy. In any event, the Director-General can boast of having issued "the better performance of Carrefour in the first half since 2005", now its objectives for 2008, in an economic environment "which should wait for nothing." The Group thus recorded a growth of 5.5 of its operating result (before non-recurring items), 1.4 billion EUR, broadly in line with the calculations of analysts. In France, he has certainly suffered little erosion of 0.8, to EUR 695 million, but without the impact of a charge of EUR 41 million in a social agreement on participation, it would have increased from about 5. Commercial margin has even been a slight increase, "by constant improvement of logistics costs, the growth of sales of products to brands (DSD) in France ( 1.5 all formats combined), and a more significant impact of tariff increases of industry", said José Luis Duran. On this last point, he clearly said that "plan of sales in the second quarter has not been satisfactory", hastened to add that commercial revitalization plan of hypermarkets in the second half would be offset by the continued reduction of costs "without social plans", and the renegotiation of the tariff conditions of the industry "by the LME Act which will be profitable in the first two or three players in the market". Finally, "our 2008 operating margin will be in line with that of the year 2007", he said. Another reassurance though remains cautious, "observed not since the beginning of the second half of extra degradation", said José Luis Duran, noting that the activity of hypermarkets was "slightly better than in the first half, and much better than in the second quarter". What to expect to regain market share lost in the first half.