On Wednesday, Casino unveiled a restructuring plan involving the elimination of between 1,300 and 3,267 jobs, with the aim of returning to growth by focusing on convenience retailing.

The reorganization project calls for 1,293 net job cuts in the group's "head office" functions, including 554 in Saint-Étienne, and "failing to find buyers, the closure of hypermarket and supermarket stores and certain logistics platforms, i.e. the elimination of a maximum of 1,974 positions", said the retailer, taken over last month by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky after coming close to insolvency.

The group's historic headquarters in Saint-Etienne would retain 1,010 of the current 1,564 positions, Casino added in a press release.

The reorganization plan also includes investing 1.2 billion euros in store modernization by 2028, strengthening purchasing partnerships with Intermarché and extending them to Auchan.

The job protection plan will be presented to the works councils on May 6.

Casino, which in February forecast a net loss of 5.66 billion euros in 2023, will publish its first-quarter sales figures after the close of the Paris Bourse. (Written by Dimitri Rhodes and Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)