Carrefour Earnings: Strong Fiscal 2023 With Elevated Dividend and New Buyback Program

Carrefour reported fourth-quarter 2023 sales and fiscal 2023 results, with group like-for-like sales up 10.2% in the fourth quarter and up 10.4% in fiscal 2023. Within this, France reported 1% like-for-like growth in the quarter, supported by like-for-like growth across formats. Supermarket sales were up 0.6%, hypermarket sales were up 0.3%, with trends for convenience stores continuing to be resilient, up 3.2% on a like-for-like basis. Carrefour France had a strong 2023 performance, with like-for-like sales up 4.7%, driven by solid like-for-like sales growth in food (up 6%, while nonfood was down 4.9%). Top-line performance translated into good profit growth with recurring operating income up 18.5% for the year, to a 2.6% operating margin from 2.2% the previous year.