Tesco is planning to open at least six more hypermarkets in South Korea, the company’s second most profitable market after the UK.


Tesco, which is partnered with Samsung in South Korea, is the largest foreign grocery retailer in the country with sales in the year to February 2008 of GBP2.7bn (US$3.9bn).


The company is planning further expansion in the market through store openings in 2009, a source close to the company informed just-food.


According to the source, the first of these new hypermarkets will open in a Seoul suburb early this year. It and five others, planned for other cities around the country, will trade under the HomePlus banner and will be sell a combination of food and non-food products.


However, there are some concerns over the venture’s level of debt following its GBP976m buy-up of 36 domestic hypermarkets from E-Land in May last year, the source added.

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