Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci has unveiled his long-term growth targets for the retailer's earnings engine room – food and liquor – saying his aspiration is to restore sales growth to 4%. In a briefing with analysts at Woolworths' liquor head office in Sydney, Mr Banducci said he was aiming to grow food and liquor volumes by 2% and lift topline sales growth to 4% through price inflation and by opening a smaller number of new stores. (smh.com.au)Kantar Worldpanel: Lidl gains market share in France
The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel show that Lidl continues its dynamic performance in the French market by gaining 30 basis points (bps) market share during the four-week period ending 17 May. This gives the discounter an overall market share of 5.3%. Also performing strongly was Carrefour Market, with a 20bps gain to 7.6%, partly helped by the conversion of former DIA stores. Carrefour hypermarkets, 
however, dropped 10bps, adding to the 30bps it lost last month. It now has an overall market share of 10.2%. Casino was up 20bps, while Monoprix and Franprix and Auchan were all down 10bps. Independpents LeClerc, Intermarché and Système U all showed modest movement in the period. Kantar Worldpanel reported that overall FMCGs sales in France declined by 0.2% during the period. (esmmagazine.com)Walmart is 'very disappointed' with UK Asda
"We are very disappointed with the performance of Asda," David Cheesewright, president and CEO and Walmart's international operations, conceded to reporters about Walmart's UK business at a gathering Thursday. To try and correct the performance, said Cheesewright, Walmart will be investing some $250m in lower product prices in order to be more competitive. During a presentation to analysts on Friday, Cheesewright added,"the UK [retail market] probably put down too much square footage, which could potentially lead to a tough scenario for everyone." Asda, which operates 621 stores in the UK, reported that same-store sales there plunged 5.7% in the first quarter. (thestreet.com)Leader Price to open 50 stores in Morocco
Leader Price, a French discount store chain part of the “Groupe Casino”
headquartered in Paris, France, has announced that it plans to open 50 stores in Morocco by 2020, the company says in a press release. The possibility of Leader Price being subject to international expansion has strengthened significantly after “Groupe Casino” purchased the 50 percent of Geimex, controlled by the Baud family. Groupe Casino said that the transaction “will allow the group to develop actively the Leader Price brand on an international scale.” (moroccoworldnews.com)Kaufland doubles digit growth in Romania
Schwarz Group, the clear market leader in Romania has reported strong 2015 financial results with revenues reaching €3bn. Kaufland saw a 16% sales growth to €2 bn, Kaufland’s largest sales growth in the last three years. The growth was driving by strong like for like sales growth as well as new store openings. Kaufland opened five stores and ended the year with 107 stores. Kaufland improved its profit margin from 5.1% in 2014 to 7% in 2015 with profit growing by 58% to €146m. (igd.com)Metro's Real ends dispute with trade union
The dispute between the Metro Group's hypermarket chain Real and trade union Verdi has been resolved after a breakthrough in its tariff debate. The agreement to a future package with a three and a half year duration essentially stipulates that Real will fundamentally acknowledge the collective bargaining agreements of the retail sector and that the negotiations surrounding a new remuneration structure will begin in October 2016. (esmmagazine.com) 
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