PARIS (Reuters) -Carrefour, which earlier this month ended talks over a possible tie-up with unlisted rival Auchan, said it remained on the offensive as it kept a guidance for 2021 net free cash flow “comfortably” above 1 billion euros.

Europe’s largest retailer also said revenue growth slowed in the third quarter, reflecting weaker sales in the core French market where a mandatory COVID-19 health pass hit business at its large out-of-town hypermarkets.

“With its robust balance sheet, and thanks to the commitment of its teams, Carrefour (PA:) is attractive and on the offensive, for the benefit of its customers and its shareholders,” Chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard said in a statement.

Earlier this month Carrefour and Auchan ended talks over a possible partnership, the second time this year Bompard’s plans to create a Gallic supermarket powerhouse have been frustrated.

Carrefour is in the midst of a five-year plan it launched in January 2018 to cut costs and boost e-commerce investment to improve profits and sales, as it seeks to tackle competition from online rivals such as Amazon (NASDAQ:) and discounters like Lidl or unlisted retailer Leclerc.

Carrefour said sales reached 20.468 billion euros ($23.83 billion) in the third quarter, a like-for-like rise of 0.8% but a slowdown from 3.6% growth in the second quarter.

In France, where Bompard has made reviving flagging sales at hypermarket stores a priority, sales eased 0.3% following a 4.% rise in the second-quarter.

French hypermarket sales alone fell 2.8% in the quarter after rising 4.3% in the second quarter.

The introduction in France in August of a health pass that customers have to show in shopping malls with a surface area of more than 20,000 square metres (215,278 sq ft) hit business in the third quarter at the hypermarket stores.

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