French retailer Carrefour, said in 2009 net profit fell 74%, mainly due to closure of Italy credited with the revitalization of the French business-related stores, as well as more than 1.1 billion euros (1.34 billion U.S. dollars) of restructuring costs.
Second only to Wal-Mart as the world's second-largest retailer, Carrefour, said in 2009 net profit of 1.27 billion euros from the previous year fell to 327 million euros (about 444 million U.S. dollars).
Last year, the company recorded a total of 10.7 billion euros of one-time expenses, including the main store and Italy 766 million euros related to the impairment charges, 172 million euros of restructuring costs, as well as from the Carrefour plans 66 million euros to revive spending.
Annual revenue fell 1% to 87.38 billion euros. France, Europe and Asia, revenues were lower, but the Latin American revenue growth.
Since the new CEO Olofsson (Lars Olofsson) since taking over last year, Carrefour has been through measures such as price cuts and brand marketing efforts to expand market share in France, which accounted for 40% of total sales.
In Italy, the company has pulled out of the southern market, the sale or closure of six large-scale supermarkets in order to concentrate power in the country's more affluent northern part of business development. The company also sold its retail Finiper in Italy 20% of the shares.
Olofsson said that 2010 will remain challenging, but he hoped that these reforms will help boost sales of Carrefour.
