PARIS (Reuters) – Carrefour, Europe’s largest food retailer, does not need to link up with another group as it has the means for its expansion, its Chairman and Chief Executive said on Friday.
“Carrefour does not need consolidation. It has the means of its development,” Alexandre Bompard told the annual meeting of shareholders.
Bompard added that while Carrefour had been approached in the past by rivals, “today, we are not working on anything,”
Bompard also reiterated on Friday a target for Carrefour to generate free cash flow above 1 billion euros in 2022.
Cash is viewed as key to Carrefour’s plans to step up digital commerce expansion without the extra financial resources that would have been on hand if two planned tie-ups last year had not failed – one with Canada’s Couche-Tard and one with France’s Auchan..
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by GV De Clercq)
