US retail giant Wal-Mart is to make Japanese subsidiary Seiyu a wholly-owned unit, reports suggested today (18 March), as the company seeks to turn around the long-unprofitable supermarket chain.
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The move has reportedly received approval at Seiyu’s shareholder meeting, enabling Wal-Mart to buy the remaining stake, boosting its share from 96% to 100%.
Since Wal-Mart first invested in Seiyu in 2002, Japan’s fifth-biggest retailer by sales has struggled in the competitive Japanese market, not making a net profit on an annual basis since then.
In February, Seiyu posted a net loss of Y20.9bn (US$193.7bn) due to a series of asset write-downs.
Seiyu said it had missed its sales and earnings targets after seeing operating profit tumble 87% to JPY434m and sales dip 0.9% to JPY952.3m.
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By GlobalDataThe retailer said its food sales were “comparatively steady” last year, although general merchandise sales had slowed.
Wal-Mart moved to take total control of Seiyu mid-way through last year amid concerns over the company’s performance.
