José-Luis Duran, chief executive of Carrefour, on Thursday said the French supermarket group would meet its sales targets for the financial year, and that he was “more than comfortable“ with the company’s targets for 2008.

His statement came on the same day that Sainsburys, the British grocery chain, reported robust sales, offering hope to a retail sector that looks under increasing pressure amid fears of a recession in 2008. In Germany, Metro and Praktiker also announced surprisingly strong quarterly results.