UPDATE 2-Carrefour plans to save 4.5 bln eur by 2012

* Says to reduce operating costs by 2.1 billion euros by 2012

* Says to improve purchasing terms by 1 billion euros by 2012

* Sees 2009 operating profit of 2.7-2.8 bln eur

* No solution for hypermarkets yet, will take time

(Adds detail)

PARIS, June 30 (Reuters) - Carrefour plans to make savings of 4.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) by 2012 by cutting operating costs, improving purchasing terms and reducing inventory times to boost profits at the world's second-biggest retailer.

Carrefour (CARR.PA) expects operating profit this year to fall to 2.7-2.8 billion euros from 3.3 billion in 2008 after the result in the first half of the year fell to 1 billion based on preliminary figures, Chief Executive Lars Olofsson said.

The forecast was based on current sales trends continuing, Olofsson told an analysts day in Paris on Tuesday.

First-half total sales including VAT should stand at about 46 billion euros, he added.

Olofsson was brought in as CEO at the start of the year after two profit warnings in 2008 and has been preparing a fresh strategy for the company.

Carrefour, which employs around 490,000 people in more than 15,000 stores in 30 countries, had a difficult 2008, hit by a consumer downturn in its main western markets, its exposure to non-food items, which have seen a bigger drop in demand than groceries, and by growing competition from discounters.

Carrefour is trying to win customers and improve its expensive image by moving to a single banner name across its hypermarkets and supermarkets as well as introducing a discount range and investing in hard discount and convenience stores.

Olofsson said the group would reduce operating costs by 2.1 billion euros by 2012 and improve purchasing terms in its main western European markets of France, Spain, Belgium and Italy -- referred to by Carrefour as the G4 -- by 1 billion.

By cutting inventory times by a week, the group plans to save a further 1.4 billion euros, he added.

The plan to transform the company will require total capital expenditure of 500 million euros and entail one-off expenses of about 1 billion between 2009 and 2012, Carrefour said.

"The cost of implementing our strategic decisions, combined with the very tough economic environment, will affect operating income in the short term," Olofsson said.

Carrefour was also on track to cut costs by 500 million euros, invest 600 million in price promotions and reduce capital expenditure this year.

"We have got to focus on the G4," Olofsson said. "We know it's going to be a tough ride."

On hypermarkets, he added: "We know we have a problem in the hypermarkets, we just have to solve it. The hypermarkets are not dead. Sales are still holding up."

He said it would take time to come up with the right solution for hypermarkets, adding that Carrefour would have proposals by the end of this year ready to test in 2010.

The company had one-time items of 550 million euros in the first half, which would have a cash impact of about 100 million in the second half and beyond, Olofsson added.

Carrefour told analysts earlier on Tuesday that it was halving the number of stores in southern Italy to just six hypermarkets and focusing on the north of the country in order to improve margins significantly next year.

The group also hoped to come up with a solution for its Belgian business by the end of the year.

Carrefour also planned to roll out its Dia hard discount stores, replacing its Ed shops, after test stores showed sales growth of over 10 percent. The company predicted it would have 20 Dia stores in France by the end of the year.

Carrefour was meanwhile looking at the possibility of introducing hypercash stores in France and Spain at the end of 2010 or early 2011 after their success in South America. ($1=.7077 Euro) (Reporting by James Regan, editing by Marcel Michelson)