Casino: a loss of 5.7 billion euros for 9 billion in turnover in 2023

Breathless. In the midst of restructuring, the Casino group recorded losses amounting to 5.66 billion euros for a turnover of 9 billion euros in 2023, according to the latest annual results published under the direction of Jean-Charles Naouri , the CEO since the 1990s who will leave office in less than a month. As for the financial debt, it reached 6.2 billion euros as of December 31.

These results - the worst in the history of the distributor - put a new spotlight on the extent of the efforts to succeed in relaunching this group, just saved by the Paris commercial court which gave the green light to the plan. exit from accelerated backup. A key step for the official takeover of the distributor, at the end of March, by the consortium led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière as well as the Attestor investment fund. “The road will still be long, with difficult times and will require a lot of effort from everyone,” the Czech billionaire had already indicated in a press release on Monday, following the court decision. Suffice to say that the next few months promise to be delicate for the future general director, Philippe Palazzi, placed by Daniel Kretinsky, who will have to redouble his efforts to redress the situation.

Also read: How Daniel Kretinsky's teams are preparing to take over the management of Casino

Certainly, these gigantic losses of 5.66 billion (compared to 316 million in 2022) are partly linked to the great difficulties of the brand's hypermarkets and supermarkets. However, they were recently sold to several competitors, including the sale of 288 large stores to Intermarché and Auchan. However, the turnover of 9 billion euros, which is down 3.7% compared to 2022, does not include these activities being sold: it therefore only concerns Monoprix ( turnover of 4.3 billion), Franprix (1.5 billion), small Casino convenience stores (1.5 billion) as well as Cdiscount (1.2 billion). 2023 was, however, a year marked by a surge in food products of 12.8%. This inflation allowed all competitors to boost their turnover, including the distributor Auchan in difficulty. It is clear that the Casino group, even excluding hypermarkets and supermarkets, has not benefited from this.

It’s a reality: the group is suffering, even when refocused on its local activities with “premium” brands like Monoprix. The result of these continued activities is also losses of 2.6 billion euros in 2023 (compared to losses of 185 million in 2022), due in particular to depreciation of the assets of Monoprix and Franprix. As for current operating profit, it fell by 60.6% to stand at 124 million euros.