French supermarket chain Carrefour has seen more than £1bn wiped off the company valuation overnight after riots and looting caused damage worth “tens of millions of euros” across stores.
Curfews have been imposed in cities across France this week after days of destruction and fires being set, aimed at showcasing anger around the cost of living crisis and poor conditions at schools.
In a call with journalists on Tuesday night, the supermarket’s finance chief Matthieu Malige said stores had needed to spend extra on security and in some cases completely shut down, with consumer confidence across the country also impacted.
The result has been a massive drop in share price once markets opened on Wednesday, with the stock down 14 per cent by mid-morning - equivalent to losing €1.62bn (£1.36bn) in market capitalisation - or total company value - overnight.
“The direct costs add up to several tens of millions of euros of stolen or destroyed merchandise, damaged stores, damaged equipment, and then there are also the stores we were forced to close,” said Mr Malige.
“In the weeks to come we will continue to be impacted as some stores have to close earlier due to curfews, and more broadly we think we're in a new situation marked by deep uncertainty for our customers.”
Up to 50 stores were directly hit by the riots, he added, in what CEO Alexandre Bompard said was an “unprecedented situation”, but Carrefour did not clarify exactly how many of the supermarkets would be closed.
That would suggest around 1 per cent of the total stores were affected so far but the company have cut their financial guidance of profits expected for the year ahead.
In part, therefore, management’s slowdown comments can be attributed to the riots in France - but also there remains a wider concern around business operations in other countries.
Garry White, chief investment commentator at Raymond James, suggested the supermarket executives had seized something of an opportunity to roll multiple out-of-sight issues into one very visible one.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste. The cynics amongst us may impertinently suggest that today’s profit warning from Carrefour is a case of its management doing just that,” he said.
“The French supermarket group has warned that the current riots and looting will have a major impact on operating income by between €80m and €200m. This is also a good opportunity to ‘kitchen sink’ a significant sales slowdown caused by other factors.
“Beyond the riots, Carrefour is facing several challenges and the company has also flagged weaker consumption trends in its domestic market, while analysts have pointed to sluggish sales volumes in other key regions, including Spain and Brazil. Some of these slowdowns – such as those caused by the rioting will be one-off events. Many others may be structural and could have a permanent impact on future earnings, expectations of which drive a company’s market valuation.”
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, added the firm and the wider French stock markets have both suffered as a result of social instability - with potentially more ahead.
“It's no surprise to see this from Carrefour and helps everyone to understand why the CAC40 has done so badly in recent months. French assets have the risk of serious instability hanging over them, which only adds to the gloom around the stock, itself a dismal performer over the last 25 years,” he said. “April's elections mean there is a serious risk of further social disruption early next year, if not before. Any improvement in performance needs to be set against that possibility.”
The CAC40, France’s primary index, is up about 0.6 per cent on Wednesday.
The stock was further hit by Morgan Stanley downgrading its investor guidance on the firm from “overweight” - or buy, in other words - to an effective hold rating, while JPMorgan also cut their estimated price target for the shares.
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