shares in casino guichardperrachon sa tumbled on friday after the retailer was downgraded by moodys on the back of an increasingly challenging environment for grocers in france at 0927 gmt the stock was trading 68 lower at eur625 the financialratings agency lowered the french companys rating to caa1 from b3 and said the downgrade takes into account a continued decline in the groups market share in french retailing as well as both a negative free cash flow and a reduction in retail margins in france last year moodys said it expects casino to struggle maintaining its sales volumes in the current year in an environment marked by high inflation low consumer confidence and rising costs free cash flow in france is expected to remain negative for the next 12 to 18 months the agency said the downgrade reflects also the weak liquidity profile of the company because the company will have to rely on the proceeds from its ongoing asset disposal plan to repay upcoming debt maturities moodys said the agency noted that casino still has to refinance or repay around 12 billion euros 130 billion of outstanding notes by 2024 and a further eur18 billion of outstanding debt in 2025