By Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS (Reuters) - French supermarket retailer Carrefour (PA:CARR) reported higher first-quarter revenue, slightly above the consensus market forecast, and maintained its full-year sales growth outlook.
Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer after Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), said first-quarter sales had risen 6.2 percent at current exchange rates to 21.3 billion euros (£18.1 billion), boosted by a strong performance in Brazil.
The consensus sales forecast, according to a poll for Reuters compiled by Inquiry Financial, stood at 21.2 billion euros.
Carrefour said it was sticking to its target for full-year 2017 sales growth of between 3 and 5 percent, at constant exchange rates.
Carrefour said its Brazilian business, for which the company is considering a stock market flotation this year along with its Carmila property business, had been boosted by progress at the Atacadao stores chain.
Turnover in Brazil rose 37.6 percent, but Carrefour's main French business has been consistently weaker, where first-quarter turnover edged up 0.8 percent.
Carrefour said its French market environment remained "very competitive", as has been the case in Britain where Sainsbury (L:SBRY) and Tesco (L:TSCO) have also been grappling with tough domestic market conditions.
Carrefour is also seeking a successor to Chairman and Chief Executive Georges Plassat, whose tenure is due to end in May 2018.
Carrefour shares closed at 21.26 euros on Wednesday, down around 7 percent so far in 2017 and underperforming both a 5 percent gain in France's benchmark CAC-40 index (FCHI) and a fall of around 1 percent in the STOXX Europe 600 Retail (SXRP) index.