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  "documentTitle": "Groupe Casino (CO)",
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  "authorName": "Carson C. Block",
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  "presentationDate": "2016-03-08 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "The slide focuses on the lack of transparency in Casino's EBITDA reporting compared to Tesco and Carrefour, and raises concerns about stretched payables in H2 2015.",
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      "text": "Based on our view of the operations of Casino, Tesco and Carrefour, and how Casino treats gains from asset sales compared to its competitors, we believe Casino's accounting materially misrepresents profitability from its France retail operations.",
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      "text": "Neither Tesco nor Carrefour are selling a material amounts of assets relative to their sizes. Tesco and Carrefour sold assets in 2014 at prices representing less than 1% and 2% of net PP&E, respectively. In contrast, Casino sold property at prices representing about 7% of its proportional net PP&E in 2014.",
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      "text": "Both Tesco and Carrefour treat gains on sales of assets as non-recurring. Casino does not disclose the gains coming from its property sales to Mercialys. Based on our estimates, Casino booked property sale gains in 2014 representing 24.3% of France retail EBITDA.",
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      "kind": "paragraph",
      "text": "Some analysts appear sheepish about pushing Casino for transparency about EBITDA inflation. A public company's accounting is neither 'proprietary' nor 'sensitive' - it is merely how a company conveys to its owners the health of the business.",
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      "kind": "paragraph",
      "text": "compliance with a strict governance framework both at Casino and Mercialys. We first note that L'Immobilière Groupe Casino's president - M. Vincent Rebillard - signed the L'Immobilière Groupe Casino's 2014 annual report on behalf of Casino.",
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      "text": "Based on our view of the operations of Casino, Tesco and Carrefour, and how Casino treats gains from asset sales compared to its competitors, we believe Casino's accounting materially misrepresents profitability from its France retail operations.",
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      "text": "It appears as though in H2 2015, Casino increasingly stretched its payables to suppliers in France - possibly to lengths suppliers had not previously experienced from Casino.",
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      "kind": "source-note",
      "text": "2 http://www.groupe-casino.fr/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/12/CP-VA-21-12-2015.pdf p. 3. 3 L'Immobilière Groupe Casino 2014 Annual Report, resolution allocating annual earnings. 4 http://www.mercialys.com/about-us/corporate-governance/management-committee",
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