Carrefour to shut Singapore stagnant stores by year-end

World No. 2 retailer Carrefour will shut its two stores in Singapore by the end of this year as it pulls out of more non-strategic countries to free up cash to cut debt and fund the revival of its struggling European hypermarkets.

Carrefour Singapore made the announcement two years after Europe‘s largest retailer unsuccessfully tried to sell its operations in Singapore and Malaysia.

The news comes two days before new chief executive Georges Plassat is due to unveil his recovery plan for Carrefour with first-half results on August 30. Carrefour pulled out of recession-hit Greece in July amid falling sales, and analysts told Reuters last week they expected more disposals in Indonesia, Turkey, Poland, Malaysia and Singapore to follow, with total proceeds between €1 and €3 billion.

Carrefour Singapore said it planned to close its Suntec and Plaza Singapura stores before the end of the year “since expansion and growth perspectives do not allow reaching a leadership position in the medium and long term”.

In Singapore, the biggest supermarket operators are Hong Kong’s Dairy Farm and local players NTUC Fairprice and Sheng Siong.

Carrefour employs close to 400 people at its two hypermarkets in Singapore, where its market share is below two per cent and revenue below €100 million.

Carrefour would not say how much it would cost to close the stores.

Carrefour announced the sale of its Thai operations to French rival Casino in November 2010 but called off plans to divest its Singapore and Malaysian outlets because the bids received were too low, sources said.

Asia generated 8.9 per cent of Carrefour’s 2011 sales of €91.506 billion.