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Carrefour launches review of asset portfolio

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Carrefour plans further price cuts in 2025

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France Q4 comparable sales -2.1%

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Carrefour announces special dividend

(Adds France sales in paragraph 5, CFO comments in paragraphs

4, 6, 7 and 13)

By Dominique Vidalon and Helen Reid

PARIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Carrefour, Europe's

largest food retailer, said on Wednesday it would keep lowering

prices this year as it reported a higher operating profit for

its core French market and strong cash flow of 1.46 billion

euros ($1.52 billion) for 2024.

The solid results allowed Carrefour to hand investors a 6%

dividend hike, to 0.92 euros per share, along with a special

dividend of 150 million euros or 0.23 euros per share.

However, Chief Financial Officer Matthieu Malige sounded a

note of caution about consumer demand in 2025, particularly in

France where Carrefour has been battling to win back market

share from rivals like privately held Leclerc.

Carrefour's sales in France fell 2.1% in the fourth

quarter due to what it called a "sluggish" market, though this

was an improvement from the 3% drop in the previous quarter.

Carrefour said its French market share hit a 10-year high in

2024.

Carrefour will lower prices this year, Malige told

reporters on a call, as consumers are still pressured by

inflation, are highly price-sensitive and will switch between

retailers and brands as they search for the best deals.

"We don't see any significant improvement in the

short-term. That's why we are cautious on 2025 for France and

more broadly for Europe," he added.

Carrefour's operating profit in France rose 5.5% to 1.04

billion euros for 2024, while the margin increased by 5 basis

points to 2.6% of sales.

Carrefour, which last week announced it would take private

its Brazilian unit Atacadao SA, also known as

Carrefour Brasil, said it had launched a review of its asset

portfolio.

For 2025, Carrefour said it expected slightly higher

earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation

(EBITDA), recurring operating income (ROI) and net free cash

flow.

The retailer's group recurring operating income was 2.21

billion euros for the year, a 1.4% rise at constant exchange

rates. This compared with an estimated 2.26 billion euros in a

poll of 18 analysts, based on LSEG data.

As in 2024, Carrefour's price-cutting efforts will be partly

funded by a new cost savings plan of 1.2 billion euros. The

retailer's cost savings reached 1.24 billion euros last year.

Carrefour opted for a special dividend instead of a share

buyback, partly due to a recently introduced new French tax on

share buybacks, Malige said on the call.

($1 = 0.9606 euros)