Consolidation of growth in France resulting from a determined customer strategy:
- Cumulatively to December 3rd*, the Group gained 0.5% food market share in 2006, all formats included.
- Like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, grew 1.6% and 2.9% respectively in hypermarkets and supermarkets, mainly resulting from food volume growth. Total sales in France were up 4.4%.

Sustained growth outside France: sales up 8.1% on constant exchange rates
- The Group’s engines for growth recorded strong performances, notably China, Greece, Poland, Spain, Colombia, Argentina and Indonesia
- These good performances have more than offset a difficult year in Italy and Taiwan.

The acceleration in organic growth is bearing fruit:
- New square meters contributed to 5.1% of total growth in 2006
- The rate of openings has strengthened, with 103 new hypermarkets, of which 87 were opened organically.
- Overall, we have added this year close to 1000 additional stores and 1.4 million new m², of which 90% were opened organically (+20% compared to 2005)

We confirm our Activity Contribution growth target for 2006:
- In line with the Group’s profitable growth strategy, Activity contribution will grow in 2006, driven by top line growth. This increase will be, as anticipated, slower than sales. 

We stand by our key convictions:
- Non-negotiable price competitiveness remains at the heart of our strategy. Beyond pricing, we build a wider and stronger offer to better respond to our customers’ needs.
- Our more flexible multi-format strategy enables us to accelerate the rate of openings, and to improve the scope of each banner.
- We are leading a consistent international strategy aiming at focusing our efforts on the markets where the Group builds and strenghtens leading positions.

* Source: TNS Secodip