Press - 2017

Black Friday has become a major event in the e-commerce industry, and Cdiscount ranks as France’s leading Black Friday e-tailer after reporting €43 million in business volumes, or five times the amount recorded on a typical day. A total of 8 million people – i.e., one in three households – visited the Cdiscount website last Friday.

This year’s sales event confirmed that Black Friday is the kick-off point for the Christmas shopping season, with toys and games comprising the bulk of items sold. Nearly 10,000 PS4 consoles and 200,000 toys/video games were purchased during the day, including hoverboards, which this year once again proved to be a stand-out item: 1,500 were sold within a few minutes after the stroke of midnight.

Customers’ enthusiasm for Black Friday was particularly visible on social media, demonstrating that French consumers have really embraced the major shopping bonanza. Cdiscount was by a very wide margin the top retailer on social media, counting some 223,000 interactions with its customers* on Friday, 24 November alone.

We are pleased to announce the signing of an agreement between Ocado Group plc (“Ocado”) and Groupe Casino, to develop the Ocado Smart Platform (“OSP”) in France.

Ocado is the world’s leading dedicated on-line grocery retailer with a strong technological advantage. The scalable, modular end-to-end solution provided by the OSP is a unique answer to the opportunities and challenges posed by shifting offline/online trends in grocery.

This highly innovative and effective commercial formula will be achieved through access to Ocado’s end-to-end solution, including the construction of its latest generation, state-of-the-art automated warehouse (for which Ocado will invest to install its grid and its robots), Ocado’s best-in-class front-end web site functionality, last-mile routing management and big data, real time implementation.

Groupe Casino’s banners will benefit from this innovative grocery e-commerce platform, firstly Monoprix.fr, which will provide its customers with the largest assortment of food items at the best levels of services and costs.

The agreement sets out plans for the immediate initiation of the development of a Customer Fulfilment Centre (“CFC”) using Ocado’s proprietary Mechanical Handling Equipment (“MHE”) to serve the Greater Paris area, the Normandie and Hauts de France Regions.The build and launch is expected to take at least two years.

In consideration of the investments made by Ocado, of maintenance and of provision of technology, Groupe Casino will pay Ocado certain upfront fees upon signing,and during the development phase, then ongoing fees linked to its utilisation of capacity within the CFC and service criteria.

In addition to the initial CFC, Groupe Casino and Ocado will consider further development of other CFCs close to other large urban areas.

“Groupe Casino is pleased to announce the agreement with Ocado Group which will allow it to develop an integrated customer and logistics platform, considered the best in the market.

At its meeting today, the Board of Directors of Casino Group declared a 2017 interim dividend of €1.56 per share.

The ex-dividend date for the 2017 interim dividend is set for Thursday 7 December 2017 and will be paid on Monday 11 December 2017.

The balance of the 2017 dividend will be submitted for approval at the Annual General Meeting that will take place on Tuesday 15 May 2018.

Cdiscount has chosen Rosapark to support its brand strategy. The objective of the partnership is to roll out a new signature and a new creative concept that will enable Cdiscount to make an emotional connection with its customers.

Having abandoned the “Butcher’s Shop” (“La Grande Boucherie”) signature last year, Cdiscount has stated its intention to build a long-term communications strategy, which will be key to ramping up its growth and consolidating its position as France’s leading multi-specialist.

The new communications strategy is driven by a new brand signature, “Don’t scrimp on pleasure”, which emphasises the element of pleasure involved in making a purchase on the Cdiscount website, putting an end to the eternal internal conflict that people have between reason and emotion.

The French e-commerce leader wants to play a bigger role in the daily lives of people across France, by increasing its closeness to customers and becoming bolder.

The new creative strategy will be rolled out over the next two months. The first 360° communications campaign – which will unveil the face of the brand through billboards, press, radio, online, social media, etc. – will be launched to coincide with Black Friday.

“Cdiscount is often perceived as a discount retailer that mainly sells hi-tech products and home appliances,” said Jean-Patrick Chiquiar, co-founder of Rosapark. “We want to change this perception and make Cdiscount the emotional leader in its category. Cdiscount is a multi-specialist and its site is packed with fabulous products in high-tech, home decoration and furnishings, childcare, sport and even wine. We have to spread the message.”

An e-commerce pioneer in France, Cdiscount remains steadfastly committed to making a maximum of products and services accessible to French consumers. By extending its offering to the energy sector, Cdiscount is pleased to be able to provide customers with a genuinely affordable alternative.

Cdiscount Energie: the same energy but 15% less expensive

Cdiscount Energie is a new solution that is set to reshape the energy market by offering the simplest service at the lowest cost.

In launching Cdiscount Energie, the aim is clear: to reduce the yearly energy bill of French consumers with an offer that is 15% lower than current fixed electricity rates (France’s “Tarif règlementé de Vente” or TRV).

Cdiscount Energie means:

• Guaranteed savings of 15% on the cost of electricity.
• Easy online subscription.
• An unlimited offer with no obligation.

Cdiscount Energie is also the fastest, most efficient solution on the market; requiring just 5 minutes to subscribe online and 5 days to be registered as a customer.

This unique solution from Cdiscount has been developed with the help of Casino Group energy specialist, GreenYellow.

GreenYellow has spent a decade advising BtoB customers and the Casino Group’s 15,300 stores on how to optimise their energy performance.

Through its partnership with a benchmark player in electricity, Cdiscount is able to offer reliable and energy-efficient solutions to customers across France.

Electricity bills are one of the highest costs for households in France

According to a survey carried out by OpinionWay for Cdiscount, electricity bills are currently one of the highest outgoings in any household budget in France.

Key findings of the OpinionWay survey for Cdiscount*

• 82% of French people feel that their energy bills are high or very high.
• 60% of French people are considering a change in supplier.
• For 67% of French people, a cut in prices by more than 10% would be the main factor in their decision to change supplier.

While the majority of the country’s population still get their electricity from longstanding suppliers, French consumers appear ripe for a change if the rates offered are more competitive.

To subscribe to Cdiscount Energie, go to: https://www.cdiscount.com/cdiscountenergie

*The “Les Français et l’énergie” (Energy and the French consumer) survey carried out by OpinionWay for Cdiscount questioned 1,009 people from a cross-sample of the population in France. Interviews were conducted between 17 and 18 May 2017.

In France, same-store growth of +2.5% of which +0.6% in the Retail segment and +18.4% at Cdiscount:

• Monoprix: sustained growth of +4.0% on an organic basis and +3.1% on a same-store basis, with customer traffic up +1.8%.
• Géant Casino: same-store growth of +0.8% led by a good performance in food sales (up +2.0%) and better non-food sales. Market share gain of +0.1 pt in the last two Kantar periods.
• E-Commerce (Cdiscount): sharp increase in same-store sales: up +18.4% versus +6.7% in Q2. Same-store GMV up +14.9% in Q3, with sustained traffic and market share gains.
  In all, cumulative Géant and Cdiscount non-food sales increased by +11.2%.

In Latin America, sales up +6.1% on an organic basis in a context of strong deceleration in inflation in all countries, especially marked in Brazil (food price inflation: -4.5% vs. +16.3% in Q3 2016):

• GPA Food: up +8.2% on an organic basis and +3.3% on a same-store basis, led by very strong growth at Assaí (volumes and traffic) and the recovery of Pão de Açucar. Market share gains at Multivarejo over the last 12 periods.
• Éxito (excluding Brazil): roll-out of the cash & carry format continued in Colombia.

At the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards organised by the CIWF in London on 28 June, the Casino Group received an award for its commitment to improving the living standards of egg laying hens. The Monoprix banner was also recognised, taking home a Good Rabbit Commendation.

Each year, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the leading international organisation dedicated to the protection of farm animals, recognises Europe’s most proactive companies at its Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards ceremony.

This 29 June, the Casino Group is honoured to have received the prestigious Good Egg Award for 2017.

Last February, all Casino Group banners made the commitment to stop selling eggs from caged hens in their stores in France. This commitment is ambitious as it concerns both own-brand products and national brand products, right from 2020.

The Casino Group has been committed to improving the living standards of egg laying hens for several years now, earning pioneer status by making ambitious commitments as yet unrivalled in the industry. Through this commitment, the Casino Group seeks to emphasise the special attention it devotes to animal welfare.

The Casino Group received the award during CIWF’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards, which brought together major companies from France and other European countries to promote dialogue on the importance of animal welfare in the food industry.

In 2013, the Casino Group banner Monoprix was the first French retailer to win a CIWF award, receiving the Good Egg Commendation for its commitment to sell exclusively free-range eggs under its private label. Monoprix was once again recognised in 2014, this time with an Honourable Mention for its commitment to improving welfare standards for dairy cows.

In 2017, the Monoprix banner won yet another distinction, taking home a Good Rabbit Commendation.

At the event, Monoprix also received an award for its commitment to improving the living standards of rabbits. The banner’s pledge for 2022 is to sell private-label fresh rabbit meat exclusively sourced from animals raised in pastures or pens and without antibiotics from birth.

An animal welfare labelling project

This past May, a partnership agreement was signed by four parties, i.e., the Casino Group, La Fondation Droit Animal, Ethique et Sciences (LFDA), Compassion in World Farming France (CIWF France) and the non-profit organisation Œuvre d’Assistance aux Bêtes d’Abattoirs (OABA). This agreement marks the beginning of an ambitious collaborative project that notably seeks to develop labelling that will better inform consumers of the animal welfare status of products available in stores.

Group trading profit :

• €466m vs €281m in H1 2016
• €336m vs €211m in H1 2016 excluding tax credit in Brazil

In France, trading profit of €121m vs €85m in H1 2016, of which €83m for food retail activities compared with €36m in H1 2016

Cash flow from continuing operations of €582m vs €390m in H1 2016

CAPEX from continuing operations of €452m vs €506 m in H1 2016

FY objectives revised up: growth in consolidated trading profit of at least 20%, at 30 June 2017 exchange rates

Key figures