Press

Olivier MARCHETEAU joins Groupe Casino as Director of non-food e-commerce activities. He reports to Hervé DAUDIN, Director of Groupe Casino merchandise activities and flows. He is taking over from him as President of Cdiscount, subsidiary of Casino and will be responsible for developing the business with Emmanuel GRENIER, his Managing Director.

Olivier MARCHETEAU is 40 years old, a HEC graduate and since 2008 has been the General Public and Internet Managing Director of the Microsoft France Group. Since 2001 in the Microsoft group, he has successfully held down the jobs of MSN France Marketing Director (2001-2004), MSN/Windows Live Europe Director (2004-2006) and Managing Director of Internet Services (2006-2008).

Previously he was Assistant Manager, followed by Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble France (1994-1997). He then joined the Nike Marketing Management (1997-2000) and went on to become Marketing Director at AUCLAND.fr (2000-2001).

Frédéric CROCCEL has been appointed Director of Media Relations for Groupe Casino. He will be reporting to Adeline HALLON-KEMOUN, Communications Director for the Casino Group.

Aged 46, this graduate of the Paris IEP [Institute of Political Studies] and former journalist has worked as Communications Director in the following companies: Groupes Générale des Eaux/Vivendi, Décathlon, Areva T&D and Sonepar.

• Faster growth in the second quarter, with sales up 8.5%, or 2.9% on an organic basis (excluding petrol)
  • Strong sales growth in international markets: up 23.6%
  • Fast recovery in Leader Price sales

• Trading profit up 12.0% in the first half, or 5.7% before reclassification of the CVAE under income tax

• Underlying profit attributable to equity holders of the parent up 10.5%

“ Group sales rose significantly in the first half, lifted by brisk business outside France and the initial impact of Leader Price’s sales revitalisation plan. Most of the banners turned in a satisfactory operating performance in a sluggish economic environment in France. Our business units in key countries – Brazil, Thailand, Colombia and Vietnam- achieved remarkable results. The Group’s positioning in convenience and discount formats in France and its presence in countries with high growth potential provide a solid base for continued development” said Jean-Charles Naouri, Casino’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2010 prepared by the Board of Directors on 28 July 2010 have been reviewed by the auditors.

Consolidated net sales rose by 8.5% in the second quarter of 2010.
The positive 5.7% currency effect primarily reflected the sharp increase in the Brazilian real, Colombian peso and Thai baht against the euro during the period. The favourable impact of Ponto Frio’s consolidation by Grupo Pao de Açucar (GPA) was offset by the deconsolidation of Venezuelan operations, leading to a negative 0.9% impact from changes in the scope of consolidation.
Higher petrol prices added 0.9% to growth, while the calendar effect was a slightly negative 0.3% in France and neutral in International operations.
Organic growth excluding petrol came to 2.9% in the second quarter, confirming the acceleration recorded in the first quarter (up 2.6%) compared to full-year 2009 (down 0.1%).

FRANCE
Sales in France rose 1.1% in the second quarter.
Organic sales excluding petrol were up 0.2%, an improvement over the 0.9% decrease reported in the first quarter of 2010. This result stems primarily from an upturn in same-store sales at Leader Price. All of the convenience formats (Franprix, Monoprix, Casino Supermarkets and Superettes) continued to perform well and Cdiscount recorded double-digit organic sales growth.

Franprix-Leader Price
Same-store sales at Leader Price showed a significant improvement in the second quarter, declining by just 1.4% compared with 10.8% in the first three months of the year. The sales revitalisation initiatives deployed since the beginning of the year, such as price repositioning and stepped-up advertising, have generated positive momentum, as seen in the increase in footfalls and the improvement in average basket.
The banner has started to roll out its new store concept, with very satisfactory results. Since the beginning of the year, 31 stores have been renovated. Leader Price also pursued its expansion strategy, opening 18 stores since January, while rationalising its store base. The pace of expansion will accelerate in the second half, as will deployment of the new store concept.

Franprix’s same-store sales rose 2.0% thanks to increases in footfalls and the average basket. The banner continued to implement its new concept, with 152 stores renovated at the end of the first half. The second quarter saw intense expansion, with 38 new store openings. In all, 53 new stores have opened since the beginning of the year. The contribution from new stores rose in the second quarter, leading to a more than 10% increase in banner sales during the period.

In all, Franprix-Leader Price sales rose by 3.2% during the second quarter.

Monoprix
Monoprix’s same-store sales excluding petrol increased by 1.9%. The banner gained market share in food and recorded a good performance in non-food, despite a later start to the summer sales season (30 June 2010 versus 24 June 2009). The new formats (Naturalia and Monop’) showed good momentum. The banner also stepped up its sales initiatives, notably through its partnership with dunnhumby and deployment of a new cosmetics concept.
Monoprix’s total sales rose 4.1%, reflecting sustained expansion in the second quarter. The banner opened five Citymarché stores, four Monop’s and one Naturalia during the period.

Casino France
Géant Casino sales fell back 6.9% on a same-store basis, excluding petrol. The average basket decreased by 2.0% and footfalls contracted by 5.0%.
Food sales were down 6.9%. The gradual reinvestment of purchasing gains between March and June helped strengthen the banner’s price competitiveness, as reflected in a tangible improvement in price indices. By end-June, the IRI price indices were down 3 pts overall, and 2.4 pts in national brands.
On the non-food side, the banner continued to reposition the offer around the most promising categories, which delivered a good performance, particularly in small appliances. On the other hand, the banner continued to carefully scale back the less promising categories, like DVDs/games/videos and large appliances. Non-food sales declined by 6.8%, dampened by the later start of the summer sales.

Casino Supermarkets’ same-store sales declined by 1.0% excluding petrol during the quarter. The banner opened four new stores during the second quarter, for a total of five since the beginning of the year. Total sales excluding petrol rose 0.5% over the period.

Superette sales decreased by 1.7%. Continued rationalisation of the store base led to 71 closures during the period. At the same time, expansion gained momentum, with the opening of 103 new units.

The Other businesses (Cdiscount, Mercialys, Casino Restauration and Banque Casino) posted sales up 7.2% on an organic basis, lifted by Cdiscount’s double-digit sales growth.

INTERNATIONAL
International sales rose by 23.6% during the second quarter.
The positive 17.2% currency effect primarily reflected the sharp increase in the Brazilian real, Colombian peso and Thai baht against the euro during the period. The favourable impact of Ponto Frio’s consolidation by Grupo Pao de Açucar (GPA) was offset by the deconsolidation of Venezuelan operations, leading to a negative 2.6% impact from changes in the scope of consolidation.
Organic sales growth remained very strong, at 9.0%, impelled by sustained momentum in South America
(up 10.9%) and continued robust growth in Asia (up 5.4%).

South America
Same store sales rose 9.1%, lifted by double-digit growth in Brazil and stepped-up momentum in Colombia.

In Brazil, GPA’s same store sales increased by 11.3%*. Sales were strong in both food and non-food items. Total sales rose by 39.4%* on the consolidation of Ponto Frio, which again reported very strong growth with sales up 71.6%* during the period. In particular, electronics sales were boosted by the 2010 World Cup.

In Colombia, Exito’s same-store sales growth accelerated to 4.6%* from 2.6%* in the first quarter, reflecting the success of promotional campaigns and the development of the private label. Exito continued to expand, opening two new stores, and to rationalise its store base, with 12 conversions. Total sales in Colombia ended the quarter up 5.4%*.

Performance in Argentina and Uruguay was satisfactory.

Asia
Operations in Asia reported robust organic growth of 5.4%.
Big C in Thailand achieved satisfactory same-store sales growth despite the political unrest during the period, and opened two stores.
Operations in Vietnam again enjoyed strong sales growth, confirming the country’s substantial growth potential.

Indian Ocean
Same-store sales in the Indian Ocean increased by 3.9%, lifted by successful sales campaigns and the World Cup’s favourable impact on non-food sales. Organic sales were up 4.7%.

* Data published by the companies
FIRST-HALF RESULTS

Sales rose by a strong 7.1% in the first half of 2010.
The currency effect added 4.5%, while changes in the scope of consolidation had a negative 1.1% impact. Based on constant scope of consolidation and exchange rates, organic growth came to 3.7%, or 2.8% excluding petrol. This represents a noticeable improvement from 2009 (down 0.1% excluding petrol), both
in France (down 0.3% excluding petrol vs 2.7% in 2009) and in International markets (up 9.4% excluding petrol vs 5.0% in 2009).

Trading profit rose 12.0%, or 5.7% before the reclassification of the CVAE under income tax, lifted by vigorous growth in the international operations.

Trading profit in France came to €347 million after reclassification of the CVAE. Trading profit declined by 5.5% on an organic basis, due in particular to the sales revitalisation plans at Géant and Leader Price. Trading margin at Franprix-Leader Price was down 98 points on an organic basis. Monoprix’s trading margin tangibly improved (up 32 points on an organic basis). Casino France’s trading margin narrowed by 9 points due to a lower margin at Géant. Casino Supermarkets and the superettes enjoyed solid profitability, while Mercialys recorded double-digit trading profit growth.

Trading profit in the international operations rose 34.5% on a reported basis to €194 million and 18.6% on an organic basis. Trading margin increased by 30 points on an organic basis. In South America, trading margin improved by 25 points on an organic basis, reflecting solid margin in Brazil and noticeably improved margins in Colombia. In Asia, organic trading margin rose by 73 points thanks to a marked improvement at Big C in Thailand and significantly higher margins in Vietnam.

Other operating income and expense represented a net expense of €56 million, reflecting in particular restructuring provisions and expenses.

Finance costs declined to €154 million from €165 million in first-half 2009 due to a reduction in net debt.

Income tax expense came to €105 million, representing a tax rate of 33.1%. Excluding non-recurring items and before reclassification of the CVAE under income tax, the tax rate came to 28.9% versus 29.9% in the year-earlier period.

Profit attributable to equity holders of the parent amounted to €173 million.

Underlying profit attributable to equity holders of the parent(1) increased by 10.5% to €208 million.

Net debt stood at €5,368 million at 30 June 2010, down from €6,003 million a year earlier, and all debt ratios improved as well.

Two bond exchange offers carried out during the period, in an aggregate amount of around €1.3 billion, have helped to noticeably improve the Group’s debt profile and to increase the average bond debt maturity from 2.9 to 4.4 years.

(1) Underlying profit corresponds to profit from continuing operations adjusted for the impact of other operating income and expense, non-recurring financial items and non-recurring income tax expense/benefits (see appendices).

OUTLOOK AND CONCLUSION
The first-half results confirm the asset portfolio’s effective positioning. The international operations recorded strong growth and significantly increased their contribution to trading profit. In France, the Group saw a return to sales growth thanks to a favourable format mix and sales revitalisation plans.

In France, Casino intends to strengthen market share by improving the banners’ price competitiveness and speeding up the expansion of the convenience and discount formats.

Internationally, the quality of the Group’s assets in high-potential countries is expected to drive strong and profitable business growth in 2010 and beyond.

The Group reaffirms its objective of a net debt/EBITDA ratio of less than 2.2x at the end of 2010, notably by pursuing its €1 billion asset disposal programme.

2010 Investor Calendar

Wednesday, 13 October 2010 (after the close of trading): Third-quarter 2010 sales announcement

APPENDICES

Main changes in the scope of consolidation

• Ponto Frio has been consolidated by the Grupo Pao de Açucar (GPA) sub-group since 1 July 2009.
• Operations in Venezuela have no longer been consolidated since 1 January 2010.

Consolidated net sales for second-quarter and first-half 2010

Underlying profit attributable to equity holders of the parent

Underlying profit corresponds to profit from continuing operations adjusted for the impact of other operating income and expense (as defined in the “Significant Accounting Policies” section of the notes to the consolidated financial statements), non-recurring financial items and non-recurring income tax expense/benefits. Non-recurring financial items include fair value adjustments to certain financial instruments whose market value may be highly volatile. For example, fair value adjustments to financial instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting and embedded derivatives indexed to the Casino share price are excluded from underlying profit. Non-recurring income tax expense/benefits correspond to tax effects related directly to the above adjustments and to direct non-recurring tax effects. In other words, the tax on underlying profit before tax is calculated at the standard average tax rate paid by the Group. Underlying profit is a measure of the Group’s recurring profitability.

Casino announced today that it has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Groupe Crédit Mutuel-CIC to develop financial products and services in France through its Banque Casino subsidiary.

Under the terms of the agreement, Groupe Crédit Mutuel-CIC will acquire a 50% stake in Banque Casino, which is currently 60% owned by Casino and 40% by LaSer Cofinoga. Casino has exercised its call option on LaSer Cofinoga’s shares, which along with 10% of Casino’s current stake, will be sold to Crédit Mutuel. The transaction is expected to be completed over the next 18 months.

This project is subject to approval by regulatory authorities.

Founded in 2001, Banque Casino provides consumer loans and insurance/personal risk products to Géant, Casino Supermarkets and Cdiscount customers. The bank serves nearly one million clients and has approximately €1 billion in loans outstanding.

Saint-Etienne, 27 July 2010

Investors Contacts
Nadine COULM, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17, ncoulm@groupe-casino.fr
Aline NGUYEN, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 85, anguyen@groupe-casino.fr

Leader Price, the food discount banner of Groupe Casino is offering a new store concept with improved response to customer needs and expectations. Leader Price is therefore revamping its points of sale while developing special product ranges and incorporating, for the first time, benchmark national brand products.

Since the beginning of the year, 25 stores of the banner have switched to the new concept within the framework of an ambitious roll-out programme that will go on until 2012.

Revamped stores

The pan-national banner is proposing a new, more user-friendly store set-up :

• an updated logo :
• a modern, friendly atmosphere
• new colours (grey and multicolor vertical designs)
• a fresh produce area on entering the store, enhanced with special lighting
• fresh bread, baked on the premises
• LCD screens highlighted at check-outs presenting the offers, ideas for recipes.

The discount options have been strengthened :

• big-sized simple and powerful price displays
• pallets on floor, bulk products, a cross aisle with special offers in containers
• simplified build, units and advertising at the place of sale.

An offer bolstered by innovative Leader Price products and a selection of popular national brands

Thanks to the work done on the mix, with special attention to reinforcing low price products and developing special own-brand product ranges, Leader Price covers the daily requirements of its customers with quality low price products.

The success of the Leader Price brand lies in its ability to innovate, forward think new trends, create new tastes, choice and diversity. To do this, the R&D cells, backed by Jean-Pierre Coffe and fully dedicated to creating new products, has been fitted out with reinforced resources. Nearly 90 new innovative products sought after by consumers are poised to complete the Leader Price range from the second half of the year including jam, sliced bread free from preservatives, yoghurts free from thickening agents, etc.
The packaging of the Leader Price products has also been reworked to give a more modern identity and improve visibility of the offering on the shelves.

In addition, in order to meet with increasing customer demand, validated by the Kantar World Panel surveying 20,000 customers, Leader Price has decided to feature national brands on its shelves.
From 26th July, an initial one hundred or so popular national brand products will be available in close to 260 stores with the aim of extending this across its network of 600 stores mid October bringing its offering to 250 references.
The presence of benchmark national brands will boost attraction to the banner and will also reinforce the authenticity and visibility of Leader Price products in categories where the national brand is particularly strong.

A competitive edge via a substantial drop in permanent prices

Leader Price is undertaking to propose the best value for money products on the market whatever the range or brand. Hence, since the beginning of the year, Leader Price, has significantly dropped its own-brand and low price product prices in order to bolster its discount ranking and is making this known by way of a noticeable comparative advertising campaign.

Jean-Michel Duhamel, Chairman of Franprix-Leader Price, has declared : “Leader Price’s recovery plan set up early 2010 with the creation and rolling out of the new concept as well as substantial and permanent price drop campaigns have now produced positive effects. The deployment of a particularly innovative Leader Price brand offering and the introduction of a selection of key popular national brand products complete this customer requirement-oriented initiative.”
Tuesday July 20th, 2010

GPA announced yesterday the signature of an amendment of its joint-venture agreement with Casas Bahia, the largest retailer of durable goods in Brazil.

With the amendment, GPA and Casas Bahia agree to review certain provisions of the agreement signed between the two groups in December 2009, without changing its general principles. The terms of the amendment are detailed in GPA’s press release* published yesterday.

The parties estimate that the joint-venture will be implemented within a period of up to 120 days.

This strategic partnership will allow GPA to strengthen its leadership in the Brazilian retail sector.

Casino welcomes this agreement which highlights the strategic importance of GPA and the Brazilian market to the Group.

Paris – 2nd July 2010

*Link to GPA’s press release : http://irgpa.grupopaodeacucar.com.br/grupopaodeacucar/web/arquivos/GPA_FR_20100701_eng.pdf 

Investor Relations
Nadine COULM, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17, ncoulm@groupe-casino.fr
Aline NGUYEN, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 85, anguyen@groupe-casino.fr

On 29 April 2010, the General Meeting of GPA shareholders approved the issue to Casino of 1.1 million new shares of preferred stock at the price of BRL 60.39 per share*, for a total value of BRL 67 million (€30 million). This issue, which was completed in the beginning of June, raised Casino’s stake in GPA from 33.4% to 33.7%.

In line with the press release published on 4th May 2009, this issue was carried out in accordance with the agreement signed in May 2005 with the Abilio Diniz family. Under the terms of this agreement, in late 2006, Casino transferred to GPA the goodwill arising on its successive investments in the company.

Amortisation of this goodwill will generate total tax savings of BRL 517 million (€235 million) for GPA over an estimated six-year period beginning in 2008. In exchange for the transferred goodwill, GPA has agreed to pay 80% of the tax savings back to Casino in the form of new GPA preferred stock.

When the goodwill amortisation period ends, Casino’s interest in GPA will stand at around 35%**, based on the current share price.

Saint-Etienne – 21 June 2010

*Average share price weighted by trading volumes over the 15 trading days before the date of notice of the General Meeting.
**If minority shareholders exercise their pre-emptive subscription rights, GPA will repay part of Casino’s share of the tax savings in cash, thereby reducing the increase in Casino’s stake in the company.

Investors Contacts
Nadine COULM, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17, ncoulm@groupe-casino.fr
Aline NGUYEN, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 85, anguyen@groupe-casino.fr

Franprix/Leader Price
Franprix’s same-store sales rose 0.6%, driven by a 0.8% increase in footfalls. The banner’s attractiveness has been enhanced by the faster deployment of the new store concept, with 34 units upgraded during the quarter versus 39 in all of 2009. The impact has been highly satisfactory, with double-digit sales gains at the renovated stores.

Press Contacts
Caroline Simon, +33 (0)1 53 70 74 65, caroline.simon@image7.fr
Karine Allouis, +33 (0)1 53 70 74 81, kallouis@image7.fr

Investors Contacts
Nadine COULM, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17, ncoulm@groupe-casino.fr
Aline NGUYEN, +33 (0)1 53 65 64 85, anguyen@groupe-casino.fr

Saint-Etienne –14 April 2010

The retail high flyer of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Cactus Group has just entered into an adhesion contract with the central buying office of Groupe Casino.

Whilst remaining fully independent commercially and in terms of its equity, the Cactus Group can tap into attractive buying conditions and access quality own-brand product sourcing.

Groupe Casino boosts its multi-format, multi-banner central buying office dedicated to its highly diversified members, aimed at long-standing reinforced cooperations with manufacturers.

About Cactus Group
The Cactus Group is the retail leader of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is the country’s second biggest private job provider and has been a part of the daily lives of those in Luxembourg and the bordering countries for over forty years. It namely operates 2 hypermarkets, 10 supermarkets and 7 convenience stores.
2009 Cactus Group’s consolidated sales : 770 M€ with manpower close to 4,000.

About Groupe Casino
Groupe Casino is one of the global food retail leaders.
Thanks to the proximity relations Casino has forged both in terms of location and business with its customers, it can match each and everyone’s requirements with their aspirations, differences and life styles in mind.
Groupe Casino operates 9,364 stores in France via its different banners “Géant Casino”, ” Supermarchés Casino”, “Franprix “, “Leader Price”, “Monoprix”, “Petit Casino”, “Spar” or “Vival”.
Groupe Casino is also set up in a dozen countries boasting over 1,600 stores including in Thailand and Brazil where it holds a leading position.
In 2009 Groupe Casino achieved consolidated sales of 26.7 billion euros. It employs close to 200,000 people throughout the world

Press contact : Caroline Simon, 01 53 70 74 65, caroline.simon@image7.fr