France's Carrefour Getting Out Of Malaysia

[webfact]

France's Carrefour getting out of Malaysia: minister

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - French retail giant Carrefour plans to sell its business in Malaysia, a minister said, amid speculation the firm will also offload its Singapore and Thai stores and exit Southeast Asia altogether.

"We heard that Carrefour is considering divesting. It is for the purpose of rationalisation of their overseas business," deputy trade minister Mukhriz Mahathir told AFP late Monday.

"They want to sell their business (in Malaysia)," he said, adding that "other hypermarkets are keen to take over" Carrefour's 23 stores in the country.

"There are many suitors," he said.

Low Ngai Yuen, Carrefour's marketing and communications director, declined to respond to the comments.

Yeah Kim Leng, group chief economist with financial research firm RAM Holdings, said Carrefour's impending departure from Southeast Asia had been well flagged.

"The news has been around for some time. It is an open secret that Carrefour wants to pull out from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. They have put feelers out to the industry on their plan," he said.

Yeah said Carrefour wanted to consolidate its business and move its resources to the booming Indian market.

"It is not surprising for them to move to India. The middle class segment is a large expanding group," he said.

The New Straits Times newspaper last month reported that Carrefour had put a tag of 1.0 billion dollars collectively on its business in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Yeah said the growth of the hypermarket industry in Malaysia was not spectacular compared to the opportunities presented by the fast-growing Indian market but that it remained profitable.

"The hypermarket industry in Malaysia is dynamic and very competitive," he said.

"Given the growth potential in the region, we will likely see other players buying Carrefour. Players that exit will be able to find suitors."

Other players in the Malaysian market who are possible buyers of the Carrefour outlets include Britain's Tesco, Japan's Jusco, and Giant, which is owned by the Dairy Farm group.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-08-24

[SamritT]

Bye bye France.

[gotlost]

I see according to the BKP that PTT is very interested in acquiring Carrefour Thailand.

[COXYATCITY]

Hope they pull out of thailand,good to see them go,a lot of items overpriced(as some other stores)under paid staff,30 checkouts,8 open, I stopped shopping there a couple of years ago,There are better stores in thailand,where you do not have to wait a long time at checkout,carrefour,bye ,bye hopefully,and i hope who ever takes over will take on extra staff which will be good for the customers and good for the people of thailand who work in stores,kin yao care for nothing ,satang .satang . satang

[powderpuff]

The frogs really have no stamina.

Too busy getting stoned on wine.

[craigt3365]

Hope they pull out of thailand,good to see them go,a lot of items overpriced(as some other stores)under paid staff,30 checkouts,8 open, I stopped shopping there a couple of years ago,There are better stores in thailand,where you do not have to wait a long time at checkout,carrefour,bye ,bye hopefully,and i hope who ever takes over will take on extra staff which will be good for the customers and good for the people of thailand who work in stores,kin yao care for nothing ,satang .satang . satang

What other stores are you referring to that are better than Carrefour? With the same selection and quality of goods? I would love to know...

[lopburi3]

Actually I find the cashier situation at Tesco much worse than Carrfour here in Bangkok. Often only three out of 40 open at the large and busy Lotus I normally use. At Carrfour they can actually open the safety theft devise box at the check-out counter without having to run to the end of the store two times for a battery purchase waisting everyones time. Carrefour also has a better selection of goods which also seem to be of higher quality. The downside is poor display design and apparent French logic as to where food items belong.

[COXYATCITY]

Hope they pull out of thailand,good to see them go,a lot of items overpriced(as some other stores)under paid staff,30 checkouts,8 open, I stopped shopping there a couple of years ago,There are better stores in thailand,where you do not have to wait a long time at checkout,carrefour,bye ,bye hopefully,and i hope who ever takes over will take on extra staff which will be good for the customers and good for the people of thailand who work in stores,kin yao care for nothing ,satang .satang . satang

What other stores are you referring to that are better than Carrefour? With the same selection and quality of goods? I would love to know...

foodland ,friendship,quality food, good service fast and friendly,no ques at checkout,not in Pattaya anyway, as for prices,as for all stores you get 1 thing cheaper in 1 store something,else cheaper in another store.hope this helps.

[craigt3365]

Friendship is OK...isles are small, parking is a mess, has a small selection of stuff, and I don't really like Pattaya Tai. Foodland is a step up, but still not a huge selection of stuff. Usually short lines for sure in both.

I've never really had much of a wait at Carrefour. Tesco, forget it...crazy at times.

Carrefour is pretty much a one stop shop for us. Plus, if you need some paint or whatever, HomePro is there, as is our bank's branch, as are great places to eat, parking is easy and covered, I can have a beer and read the paper while wifey shops, etc, etc....

We pop into Friendship and Foodland for the few items Carrefour does not have, but only on occasion.

We live out of town, so getting in and out is an issue for us. That's why we avoid Friendship....if you live nearby and use a scooter, I can imagine its a great choice.

[gotlost]

I'm in Chiang Mai and Carrefour on the super highway is our number one store. Rimping Super Market is a close second. Big C and Tesco are not in the game. The local markets are.

[Peterbigeyes]

Actually I find the cashier situation at Tesco much worse than Carrfour here in Bangkok. Often only three out of 40 open at the large and busy Lotus I normally use. At Carrfour they can actually open the safety theft devise box at the check-out counter without having to run to the end of the store two times for a battery purchase waisting everyones time. Carrefour also has a better selection of goods which also seem to be of higher quality. The downside is poor display design and apparent French logic as to where food items belong.

Totally agree

Edited August 25, 2010 by Peterbigeyes