Net profit of Carrefour, a French retailer wanting to establish business in Armenia, grows 3.3 times in 2012

YEREVAN, March 7. /ARKA/. Net profit of Carrefour, a French retailer wanting to establish business in Armenia, grew 3.3 times from €371 million in 2011 to €1.23 billion in 2012, RBC reports. 

The group owes such a fast growth to the sale of assets in Greece, Singapore, Columbia, Malaysia and Indonesia – the countries which were out of the group growth tune. 

The Carrefour’s net profit less the sold assets amounted to only €113 million in 2012 against the losses amounting to €1.87 billion a year before, according to the retailer’s report.  

Its sales totaled $76.8 billion less VAT in 2012 – 0.9% year-on-year growth. The group earned €2.14 billion in profits from continuous operations in 2012 against €2.20 billion a year earlier – 2.6% decline. 

This result still exceeded analysts’ expectations of 2.06 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. 

Earlier, Zhamanak (Time), a Yerevan newspaper, reported referring to own sources that Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian entrepreneur of Armenian descent, who was ranked 353rd by Forbes, and the owner of Dalma Garden Mall that is included in Tashir Group, suspended its contract with Carrefour.    

According to the newspaper, the move was prompted by strong opposition from Samvel Alexanyan, an Armenian entrepreneur who imports essential commodities in the country and at whose business Carrefour’s appearance here might strike hard. 

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said the government will do whatever it can to ensure Carrefour’s arrival here, since Armenia is interested in this. 

Commenting on the rumors going around about the contract suspension, the premier told journalists referring to the company’s spokesmen that this is a memorandum on intent, not a contract, and that there is some discord between the parties.   

Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan, on his side, said that delay here is connected with problems between the parties and that there is nothing extraordinary in it. 

Carrefour S.A. is a French multinational retailer headquartered in Boulogne Billancourt, France, in Greater Paris. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world (with 1,395 hypermarkets at the end of 2009), the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue, and the third largest in profit (after Wal-Mart and Tesco). Carrefour operates mainly in Europe, Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but also has shops in North Africa and other parts of Asia. It has 400,000 employees.--0----