Casino - comment

Casino have published a cleansing document, which amounts to the tough opening gambit we have been expecting from the company. 

We are in the process of going through the document, but the initial takeaways are that the Group considers that any restructuring will require at leads €900m of fresh equity, execution of further asset sales and debt conversion into equity of at least all unsecured debt.  

In addition the Casino has shared projections for performance for FY23, FY24 and FY25 for each format, highlighting the deterioration expected in FY23 both in underlying performance coupled with significant cash outflow from working capital movements.  

Sales data for April and May continue to disappoint, with premium and convenience year-on-year growth figures modestly positive (versus high inflation) and Hyper- & Supermarkets dealing at 15-20% levels.  

Separately, Casino confirmed the sale of Assai stake for net proceeds of €325m.