Carrefour Profit Up 3.1%

Paris Carrefour SA said Friday its profit rose 3.1% in its first half of 2008.

CEO Jose Luis Duran called it a "strong performance" in a challenging environment.

The company indicated that it plans to cut prices in its home market of France on about 300 products and reduce costs by about $150 million to keep its momentum going.

Net income rose to 751.8 million euros ($1.1 billion) in the six months through June from 729.1 million euros a year earlier. The company reported a 1.2% increase in profit from recurring operations to 750 million euros ($1.1 billion).

Sales increased 8% to 41.94 billion euros ($61.95 billion) from a year ago.