Seiyu to Sell Singapore Unit to Local Investment Firm

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Oct. 18–TOKYO — Seiyu Ltd. will sell its Singapore unit to a local investment firm for S$21 million, or roughly 1.4 billion yen, on Dec. 1, the Japanese supermarket chain said Tuesday.

Seiyu (Singapore) Private Ltd., which runs a department store business in Singapore, “has grown with support from local customers” since its establishment in 1994, but Seiyu has decided to sell its entire stock to CapitaLand Retail Investments (SY) Pte Ltd. to make its management “more closely attached to the region,” the retailer said in a statement.

Seiyu is expected to book 900 million yen in profit on the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary in its consolidated earnings for the current business year to Dec. 31, but has no plans to alter its earnings forecast due to the transaction, it said.

Seiyu (Singapore) Private has scored robust earnings, including some 500 million yen in operating profit in the year to November 2004.

But Seiyu said it has chosen to dispose of the Singapore unit and focus on operations in Japan.

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