French retailer Casino improves profitability in first half

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS, July 30 (Reuters) - French supermarket group Casino, which is owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, reported a slight rise in second-quarter sales on Thursday and improved its profitability as it continued negotiations over a major debt restructuring.

CEO Philippe Palazzi said he was "very positive" about the outcome of talks to reduce Casino's debt burden ahead of roughly 1.4 billion euros of debt maturing in March 2027. The goal is to complete the debt restructuring by end 2026.

• The owner of the Monoprix, Franprix and Naturalia brands, said adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 13.9% to 326 million euros helped by cost cuts and store network streamlining.

• Casino confirmed its objective to break-even at free cash flow level before financial expenses in 2026.

• Second-quarter group sales rose 0.4% on a like-for-like basis, with all store formats, except Monoprix, contributing to growth.

• Monoprix saw a 2.1% fall in food sales in the quarter linked to temporary supply disruptions due to a lack of agreement with certain suppliers and targeted price cuts.

• A major wildfire affecting the Gironde area in southwestern France this week forced the temporary closure of the Cestas logistics site of Casino's e-commerce unit Cdiscount.

• CEO Palazzi said Cdiscount has been relying on other logistics sites in Paris and Saint-Etienne.

• The Cestas site was expected to re-open soon and the financial impact of the closure was likely to be "relatively limited", he said.

($1 = 0.8737 euros)

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Jason Neely)