French group Carrefour reported its sales (with VAT) increased by 5.2% y/y to EUR 706 million in the third quarter. The advance is the second largest among large European markets, after Belgium (+5.7% y/y), but before Spain, Italy or Poland.

"In Romania, we see a positive evolution against the background of the increase in-store traffic," according to the company, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

However, the advance is almost half compared to inflation, a sign that there are further decreases in volumes and that Romanians are cautious in their purchases.

Separately, the Competition Council approved the transaction by which Carrefour bought the operations of the Cora retailer in Romania. Thus, the acquisition is to be completed in the coming weeks, Carrefour officials announced.

Cora's turnover decreased by 2.3% y/y to RON 1.51 billion (EUR 300 million) in 2022 – one-tenth of Carrefour's RON 15 billion (EUR 3 billion, +12.6% y/y) sales in the same year.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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