The CEO of French retailer Carrefour on Tuesday urged the government to delay a law putting a cap on promotions retailers can offer, warning that consumers have made massive cuts to spending on essential goods owing to high prices, Reuters reported. Carrefour Chairman and Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard, who is among French retail executives due to meet Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Wednesday to discuss cost of living issues, said he would ask for "a one-year moratorium on the application of the Descrozaille law" that limits promotions on beauty, hygiene and care products.
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France
The French economy should show modest growth in the third quarter as industrial and services activity picked up slightly in July, the central bank said on Wednesday in its monthly business climate report, Reuters reported. "For the third quarter... we expect GDP to show moderate growth compared to the previous quarter," the Bank of France said. It added its latest estimate was broadly in line with its growth forecast released in June, when it said the economy was expected to grow by 0.2% in the third quarter.
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French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that billions of euros of promised tax cuts will be spread out gradually over several years as the government tries to reduce its budget deficit, Bloomberg News reported. President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to slash a further €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in taxes on households and had planned to complete the second half of an €8 billion reduction in a levy on industrial production, known as CVAE, in 2024.
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Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky neared victory on Monday in a battle to take over French retailer Casino after rival bidders pulled out of the race, paving the way for a deal to rescue the debt-laden group and save it from bankruptcy, KFGO reported. Kretinsky has been vying to take control of Casino against the 3F Holding group, led by telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel, investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and businessman Moez-Alexandre Zouari.
In the race to win control for debt-laden supermarket operator Casino Guichard-Perrachon, the two bidders are working on how to charm creditors, the company and the government after laying out their initial plans, Bloomberg News reported. The groups — 3F, formed by banker Matthieu Pigasse, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and retail entrepreneur Moez-Alexandre Zouari, and a rival composed of Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière’s Fimalac — have until Friday to improve their bids.
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Casino shares fell as much as 40% on Wednesday after the cash-strapped French retailer said the injection of new capital that would result from two rival offers to rescue the group meant that existing shareholders would be wiped out, Reuters reported. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is leading a 1.35 billion-euro investment plan to rescue Casino, details of the two offers released after the market close on Tuesday showed, dwarfing a rival proposal backed by telecoms maverick Xavier Niel.
The French economy is on course to avoid a recession this year while inflation pressures ease though growth and will only gradually pick up in the coming two years, the central bank forecast on Wednesday, Reuters reported. In its quarterly outlook, the Bank of France said the euro zone's second-biggest economy would grow 0.1% in the current quarter from the previous three months and 0.2% in both the third and fourth quarters.
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A European derivatives committee said on Monday that a bankruptcy credit event has not occurred in relation to France's debt-laden Casino (CASP.PA), dashing investor hopes for a payout on credit insurance linked to the retailer, Reuters reported. The EMEA Credit Derivatives Determination Committee (CDDC) met on Friday to discuss the question raised by an investor, it said on its website.
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An investor has raised a question with a CDS panel on whether a bankruptcy credit event has occurred in respect to Casino Guichard Perrachon, potentially starting the process for a payout on the company's credit default swaps, Reuters reported. The French retailer announced on Friday it entered court-backed talks with creditors.
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The French economy is set to grow around 0.2% in the first quarter of 2023, up from around 0.1% forecast last month, the central bank said on Tuesday, as activity in three main sectors picked up steam, Reuters reported. The Bank of France said companies polled in its monthly business sentiment survey reported activity in March was stronger than in February in the industrial sector, as well as in services and in construction. The improving sentiment comes despite widespread strikes against pension reform that have weighed on transport and energy.
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