Carrefour, the second biggest retailer in the world is getting out of Indonesia. It is selling its 60% stake in Carrefour Indonesia to its partner there, CT Corp. The deal, worth more than half a billion euros, will be finalised early next year.
The French retailer is continuing to withdraw from Southeast Asia which accounts for only 8.9% of its turnover compared to more than 72% in Europe.
Six months after arriving, the new CEO of the group, Georges Plassat is stepping up the pace. He wants to finance Carrefour’s recovery by selling off its overseas interests. Getting rid of Colombia, Malaysia and Indonesia has earned the group nearly 3 billion euros.
That means there’s money to re-vamp all the group’s shops to increase profitability and to boost its hypermarkets in Western Europe, but particularly improve its 5300 smaller convenience stores.
Investors welcomed the refocusing. Since early January, Carrefour shares have gained more than 30% and this Tuesday recorded one of the largest increases in the Paris stock exchange, up 2.9% at the close.
2013 promises more of the same. Carrefour is reviewing its assets in Turkey and Poland so it can concentrate more on Brazil and China.
