This spectacular loss is attributable to the great difficulties of the brand’s hypermarkets and supermarkets, whose safeguard plan was validated by the Paris Commercial Court on Monday.
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Casino in great difficulty. The group published on Wednesday February 28 a spectacular net loss of 5.7 billion euros in 2023. It is attributable in particular to the great difficulties of its hypermarkets and supermarkets which it has since sold largely to competitors. The group, also weighed down by a loss of value of its Monoprix and Franprix stores, had its rescue plan validated on Monday by the Paris commercial court which provides for a crushing of around 5 billion euros of debts and the taking of control in the coming weeks of buyers led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
Casino indicates that it has sold 1.4 billion euros of assets in 2023, including the share still held in the Brazilian brand Assai, and 1.7 billion since the start of 2024, including 288 stores to its competitors Intermarché, Auchan and Carrefour . The group published a turnover (excluding tax) of just under 9 billion euros for the year, down 4.7%. In 2022, its net loss was 316 million euros.
Accelerated backup since October
Changing ownership soon, Casino still announces that “taking into account the transfer process” department stores, its financial outlook “are obsolete”. But Casino does not “do not publish new 2024 outlook”. The group, which employed 50,000 people in France at the end of 2022 under well-known brands such as Casino, Franprix or Monoprix, had to enter into accelerated safeguarding at the end of October, because it could no longer meet its debt maturities.
The restructuring of Casino’s debt is made possible by the provision of new money to the tune of 1.2 billion euros, including more than 900 million by a consortium of buyers including billionaires Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière as well as the Attestor investment fund. “In the absence of suspensive appeal, it is envisaged that all of the operations planned by the financial restructuring will be carried out on March 27, 2024”, the group assured Monday in a press release. Administrators and legal representatives as well as for the CSE of Distribution Casino France, the staff representative and the public prosecutor can appeal.