PARIS: Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer, reported on Wednesday a half-year loss of 249 million euros ($359 million) and said it now expected annual operating profit to drop by 15 percent.
Analysts interviewed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a half-year profit of 31 million euros.
While the retailer's sales rose by 2.3 percent to 39.6 billion euros, the results were slammed by 884 million euros in non-recurring charges, including 516 million in impairments charges mostly linked to Italian operations.
"In the first half of 2011, Carrefour managed to grow its sales, driven by emerging markets, but overall results were unsatisfactory, weighed down by a poor performance in France and non-recurring items," chief executive Lars Olofsson said in a statement.
He said the company would pursue its transformation plans and would favour long-term value creation over short-term gains, and thus expected annual current operating profit to drop 15 percent.
The company's share price dropped by more than four percent in early trading to 17.85 euros.
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