The descent into hell on the stock market continues for Casino and its parent company Rallye. Last Friday, Casino closed below 6 euros, at 5.63 euros, while Rallye was worth only 1.59 euros, after a difficult week.
renegotiate the debt
In quick succession, in recent days, parent company Rallye first made it known that “the risk factor linked to the implementation of its backup plan” was “increased” and that it was going to approach its creditors to “arrange if it’s possible”. Just hours later, Moody’s downgraded the Casino group, fearing the distributor could not outperform the competition this year and noting the magnitude of the level of cash burned in France last year: almost 900 million euros.
“The fact that Rallye and his boss, Jean-Charles Naouri, are trying to renegotiate the debt is not surprising, the repayment deadline of 2025 seems insurmountable,” comments Clément Genelot, Vice President of Equity Research – Retail & E-commerce at Bryan , Garnier & Co.
Take advantage of the merger with Teract
For the moment, the account is not there, but for the analyst, the prospect, in France, of a merger between Casino and the Teract group, whose majority shareholder is the giant of the food industry InVivo, places Jean-Charles Naouri ” in a slightly better position than before” with, ultimately, “a company that would be much better valued than the current one”. If the process started is successful, the merger should be effective at the end of this year.
By approaching his creditors, Jean-Charles Naouri is trying to save time. The banks, in any case, do not have much of a choice, according to Clément Genelot: “either they agree to reschedule Rallye’s debt, counting on a better repayment, or they refuse and it is almost certain that they will never see their credits.”
Source: BFM TV
