Shares in French supermarket groups rose on Tuesday after Wal-Mart said it wanted stores in every country in Europe and would proceed by acquisitions and internal growth. Shares in Casino, France's second-biggest listed retailer, jumped by 3.4%, beating a slightly weaker DJ Stoxx index of European retailers. Rival Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, firmed 1.3% and Dutch Ahold added 1.4%.

That was after the Financial Times reported Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott as saying he could not think of any country in Europe where the group would not want to be in the long term, and that international growth would consist of a combination of strategic acquisitions and greenfield expansion. "It's an issue that has come up frequently ever since Wal-Mart acquired Asda and they have not made any secret about their ambition to be a pan-European player," one London-based retail analyst said.

NamNews - Wednesday 26th May 2004

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