French supermarket group Auchan Retail had decided to sell 18 loss-making stores in Viet Nam. — Photo vnex

French supermarket group Auchan Retail had decided to sell 18 loss-making stores in Viet Nam, vietnamplus.vn cited CEO Edgar Bonte as saying.

Those outlets generated 45 million euros (US$50.4 million) in revenue in 2018 but still suffered losses.

The French group entered Viet Nam in 2015 and has developed a total of 21 stores in the country. After the closure of three outlets, it now has 18 left, 13 of which are in HCM City, four in Ha Noi and one in the southern province of Tay Ninh.

Auchan is now negotiating with different retailers in Việt Nam to find a partner to take over its business. For now, it will maintain normal operations.

The exit from Viet Nam follows Auchan’s earlier deal to sell around 1,600 stores of its loss-making Auchan Retail Italia arm to local co-operative retail group Conad.

In March this year, Auchan Holding announced in a statement a net loss of 1.1 billion euros in 2018. The overall turnover was down 3.2 per cent at 50.99 billion euros. — VNS