The Avanti Group Comment On Carrefour Expansion

By Author: Akemi Avanti
Total Articles: 18
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The Avanti Group the equities research house based in Tokyo, providing professional trading and investment research solutions to institutional and private investors across the globe have recently drawn their investor’s attention to Carrefour SA the dominant player in the European retail market as they make announcement regarding their long expected plans to push forward with expansions in Africa.

The French based retailers has had a record year to date under its new CEO Georges Plassat with share value surging 72% in spite of tough economic conditions faced by the retail sector. The company has undergone major restructuring over the last two year, exiting markets that have failed to deliver either market share dominance or meet the company’s strict self-imposed bottom line on operating margins. After their departure from Colombia and Greece, Carrefour have spent time consolidating their French market which still accounts for over 55% of the company’s annual turnover.

“They have played out their long term strategy well by pulling back from their weakest markets and re-capitalizing in their strongest, placing ...
... themselves ideally for growth. The company’s plans for Africa show that a lot of thought has gone into this venture, especially in regards to the potential obstacles faced by retailers in such markets,” said Andrew Taylor Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at The Avanti Group.

Carrefour SA’s partner in their African venture will be CFAO SA, the French distributer whose supply network on the African Continent is the largest. CFAO, who along with their majority shareholder Toyota have spent many years in building their African supply chain, access to which will give Carrefour an invaluable lead over major competitors such as Walmart Inc who have also been examining plans for Africa. Their partnership of which CFAO will hold 55% plans to have their first and already under way project in Abidjan, Ivory Coast operational by 2015.

“Overall it’s been a very smart move for Carrefour by partnering with CFAO, they have been playing very conservatively and profiting from this strategy. By utilizing such a well developed and managed supply chain they have given themselves an advantage that is hard to match, let alone beat. From an investment view point Carrefour offers a lot of benefits and we will be monitoring their growth closely and strategizing the best formula to include our investors,” concluded Andrew Taylor Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at The Avanti Group.

The Avanti Group is an equity research house providing research and analysis outsourcing solutions for institutional financial traders worldwide, founded in early 2003.