French retailer Carrefour SA on Thursday reported first-quarter sales including value added tax and excluding fuel rose 0.9%, supported by overall growth in emerging markets and a positive calendar effect across most its regions. Sales totaled 22.5 billion euros ($30 billion) for the group as a whole, a 0.1% fall on a comparable basis. Carrefour said the food sector remains resilient, while non-food, notably in Southern Europe "remains affected by difficult macro-economic conditions." Sales in Europe excluding France fell 2.7% excluding fuel and 3.8% on a comparable basis, with sales in Spain down 6.1% on a comparable basis. In France, sales fell 0.5% excluding fuel and 0.3% on a comparable basis. Sales rose 8.6% in Latin America on a comparable basis, helped by Brazil hypermarkets and outperformance at Atacadao, a leading operator of discount hypermarkets in that country. In Asia, sales fell 4.3% on a comparable basis, reflecting unchanged China trading conditions.

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