Announcement comes a month after company opened its second hypermarket in the country
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Carrefour SA (Paris), the world’s second-largest retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc., announced it’s pulling out of Russia. The news follows a 2.9 percent drop in third-quarter sales, the retailer’s third consecutive sales decline.
Chief financial officer Pierre Bouchut said in a conference call this week that the company isn’t currently planning to exit any other markets but that it’s "permanently reassessing the situation of all business units" to ensure that they are able to "secure a profitable leadership position over time."
Carrefour, which sells everything from clothes to television sets along with food, has come under pressure from intense competition by smaller specialty stores. Sales in its home market, France, where the company generates over 40 percent of annual sales, fell 3.4 percent in the third quarter.
Ceo Lars Olofsson, who took over at the beginning of the year, says he’s trying to revitalize the retailer though promotion campaigns, reduced prices and own-store brands.
The company currently operates four main grocery store formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discount and convenience stores, with more than 15,500 company-operated or franchised stores. Carrefour operates in three major markets: Europe, Latin America and Asia.
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