United Kingdom's largest retailer Tesco is considering the sale of its stores in Thailand and Malaysia, which are under the Tesco Lotus brand.
Retail giant Tesco has about 2,000 stores in Thailand and Malaysia, which employ approximately 60,000 people. If it successfully sells its stores in those two countries, Tesco would almost completely abandon the international markets.
Except for Ireland, the retailer's only other overseas stores are in Europe which are experiencing losses.
The company released a statement on its website, saying that it had initiated a review of its Asian businesses "following inbound interest" but did not name the potential buyer or buyers. It also stated that the ongoing review is still at an early stage and "no decisions concerning the future of Tesco Thailand or Malaysia have been taken".
The Tesco announcement represents another step back from the retailer's once-ambitious global expansion plans. If it successfully sells the Thailand and Malaysia stores, the company will be left with stores in the UK and Ireland, and an unprofitable division in central Europe, which covers Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
The move follows a recovery plan being implemented by the company in the last five years to address an accounting scandal and fierce competition from rival supermarket chains and online retailers. It has given up several businesses globally in recent years, including the South Korean unit in 2015 and its Kipa business in Turkey in 2016.
In October, Dave Lewis announced that he is stepping down as chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, after five years in the position. Lewis’ departure followed Tesco’s report of a 6.7% increase in profits to £494 million in the first half of 2019.
Lewis said: “I believe the tenure of a chief executive should be a finite one and that now is the right time to pass the baton. The turnaround is complete, we have delivered all the metrics we set ourselves.”
