PARIS (AP) — French big box retailer Carrefour more than tripled its profits in 2012, as it pulled out of markets it was struggling in and sold off assets.

Europe's largest retailer said Thursday that its net profit rose to €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion), up from €371 million in 2011.

Carrefour is trying to engineer a turnaround as Europe's economic turmoil weighs heavily on its core markets. One of its tactics is to focus the group's efforts on markets where it thinks it can be among the leading retailers.

The huge jump in profit hides a more modest rise of 0.9 percent in revenue to €76.8 billion.