The French group's shares plunged in December when activist investor Muddy Waters said Casino was "dangerously leveraged" and managed for the short term.

Casino (>> Casino Guichard) rejected Muddy Waters' criticisms. But the following month it cut its 2015 earnings forecast, while Standard & Poor's (S&P) threatened to downgrade Casino's credit rating to junk status, citing high debts and weakness in Brazil, where it controls top retailer Grupo Pao de Acucar.

To reduce its debt of nearly 6 billion euros, Casino is now banking on improved cashflows in France and 4 billion euros of asset sales. It sold its Thai business last month and several Asian players are eyeing its Vietnamese business.

An S&P decision on the credit rating is expected mid-April.

"While concerns over an S&P downgrade will carry on beyond the results, management setting a bullish tone on top line growth, profitability, cashflow and deleveraging for the year ahead should go some way to counter that," said Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.

With its asset sales and slowing Brazilian market, Casino's prospects will depend more closely on France, where its rivals include Carrefour (>> Carrefour) and unlisted E. Leclerc.

Analysts expect Casino to report earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 1.45 billion euros (£1.12 billion) for 2015, according to the average forecast in a Reuters poll.

That would be below the 1.5 billion euros Casino said was "realistic" in January, and reflect mostly a fall in the Brazilian real and in the profitability of its consumer electronics business in Brazil.

Casino suffered a first-half operating loss of 53 million euros in France last year due to price cuts, notably at its Geant Casino hypermarkets and LeaderPrice discount stores. It guided for a rebound in the second half, as sales recover.

For 2016, Casino has said it expects EBIT at its French operations of at least 500 million euros, driven by sales growth, margin improvement and cost cuts.

The results could be an opportunity for Casino to give details on the way it accounts for real estate transactions. Muddy Waters has said this is an area that masks the underlying business performance.

"Increased transparency is necessary we believe for long-term investors to trust the company again," said Kepler analyst Fabienne Caron.

(Editing by Mark Potter)

By Dominique Vidalon and Pascale Denis