Carrefour warns of up to €200 million hit from riots and looting

By Helen Reid and Dominique Vidalon

LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Carrefour cut its annual earnings forecast on Tuesday, blaming an "unprecedented situation" in France as riots, looting and curfews raised costs and disrupted trading at its stores.

The supermarket chain said it now expects "stable to slight" growth in 2026 adjusted earnings per share, having previously forecast growth in a high single-digit percentage. It also forecast a slight decline in free cash flow compared with 2025.

Adding to widespread criticism of the government's policing efforts, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said he hoped security would be better for the next protests planned on October 24, but that he expects a business impact regardless. 

"Carrefour was directly and strongly affected. Around 50 of our stores were hit on day one, many were looted and the damage is considerable," Bompard said on a call with analysts. 

"Many of our teams and partners faced deeply distressing situations," he added, saying the retailer is helping workers to reopen affected stores as soon as it is safe.

The unrest is hurting consumer confidence that was already weak because of high fuel prices and is reducing footfall at Carrefour stores as the key fourth-quarter trading period begins.

Finance chief Matthieu Malige said the total impact could be between €80 million ($90 million) and €200 million of operating income.

"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," Malige told reporters.

"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."

Many of Carrefour's 6,000 stores across the country were closed in anticipation of unrest, including on Sunday and Monday, Malige said, declining to disclose the total number of stores shut.

Costs have increased as stores took measures to protect themselves, including the hiring of external security guards, Malige said, adding that Carrefour was among the most affected retailers because of its wide network of convenience stores in cities such as Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.

As a result, Carrefour said it would invest less in France, cutting its capital expenditure forecast for the year to €1.6 billion from €1.7 billion. 

The retailer had been gearing up to begin its Black Friday sales events in the coming days, Malige added.

($1 = 0.8906 euros)

(Reporting by Helen Reid and Dominique VidalonEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)