Cnova - Double positive

All,

Please find our unchanged analysis of Cnova here.

Cnova released a press statement this morning outlining their plans to raise c.€300m in a primary offering this year. Although we expected some capital transactions at Cnova, we were expecting a secondary offering where Casino, or as we expected GPA, sells down part or all of their stake. Instead, Cnova intend to first place c. €300m in a private placement to raise additional capital for Cnova to fund further expansionary CAPEX. However, it should be noted that the GPA and Casino may decide to sell down a portion of their shares during the process. Cnova acknowledge that Casino will remain its majority shareholder.

Double Positive:

- The raising of additional capital should be viewed as positive for Cnova and in turn Casino, but ultimately the offer price will determine the overall impact on Casino. The share price is currently €9.80, just shy of its all-time highs, and up significantly from €3 a share at December 2020 level.

- The raising of the additional fresh cash will positively impact the covenant calculation at Casino.

There will be an analyst call on next Monday at 7:30 Uk time.

Happy to discuss

Tomás
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