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Carrefour boosts Net plans
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February 24, 2000: 5:56 a.m. ET
French retailer's stock soars on firm earnings, Net shopping expansion plans
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Paris-based Carrefour posted solid full-year earnings Thursday and saw its shares soar after Europe's largest retailer announced plans to create a standalone Web portal to boost online sales.
The company completed its merger with domestic rival Promodès last month, overtaking Germany's Metro (FMEO) in sales and becoming global number two after Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: Research, Estimates).
The enlarged group said 1999 earnings before exceptional items rose 1.7 percent to 915 million euros ($911 million) from 900 million a year earlier. Sales dipped marginally to 51.95 billion euros from 52 billion in 1998. Excluding Promodès, net earnings rose 1.7 percent to 625 million euros, ahead of the 619 million euros consensus among analysts polled by Reuters.
Carrefour (PCA) shares jumped 5.2 percent to 140.70 euros, buoyed by
plans to develop a Internet portal that would serve as a marketplace for an expanded range of goods, including new and used cars.
The company said it would issue a one-for-one bonus share to stockholders on April 11, and a capital increase of between 4 and 6 billion francs ($918 million).
The stock has fallen 30 percent since December, knocking its market value down to 49 billion euros. It was hit by uncertainty over the approval of its Promodès acquisition by European regulators, while French competition authorities have also hinted at toughening rules to address increasing monopoly concerns as the French retail industry consolidates. 
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Carrefour
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