France’s Casino supermarket chain to cut 3,200 jobs following takeover

Casino said this week it would be making the job cuts to improve its financial situation – and said it would refocus its business on convenience stores instead.

Meanwhile, the group said it would consult with unions and other stakeholders on 6 May to unveil plans to safeguard most of the nearly 30,000 people it employs in France.

Shares in the retailer are down 96% year-to date but investors responded positively to the update, liftings its stock by about 5%.

In a separate statement, Casino said it will also implement a reverse share split of its share capital through the exchange of 100 existing shares for each new share.

Moreover, the company, which lost €5.7 billion in 2023, said it also plans a €1.2 billion investment to modernise its stores by 2028.

Casino has had to restructure its operations to emerge from its debt and as a result has had to sell off most of its larger-format shops to rivals Intermarche, Auchan and Carrefour. However, it will keep operating its Monoprix and Franprix convenience chains.

On Wednesday, the business reported its latest financial results and posted negative sales. However. It said net debt at the end of March 2024 was at €1.6 billion, compared with €6.2 billion at the end of December 2023.