UPDATE 1-Blue Capital raises Carrefour stake to 12.9 pct

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PARIS, July 17 (Reuters) - Blue Capital, the holding company jointly owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault and property group Colony Capital, said it had raised its stake in Carrefour (CARR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to 12.9 percent from 10.7 percent.

The move came after the French retailer posted disappointing sales figures last week which pushed its shares to a five-year low.

Blue Capital said it now had 12 percent of Carrefour's voting rights.

Carrefour, one of the world's biggest retailers after Wal-Mart (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said it had been affected by a consumer spending slowdown caused by the effects of the global credit crisis.

Over the last year, Blue Capital has been gradually increasing its influence in Carrefour which owns a wide portfolio of lucrative property assets which Blue Capital would like to see generating higher returns.

In May, Arnault won a seat on Carrefour's supervisory board. Arnault is one of France's richest men and also chairman and chief executive of luxury goods group LVMH (LVMH.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Carrefour shares closed up 5.5 percent at 33.80 euros on Thursday, giving the company a stock market value of around 24 billion euros.

The stock has fallen roughly 35 percent since the start of the year, compared to a 31 percent fall in the DJ Stoxx European retail sector SXRP.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Astrid Wendlandt)