Metro plans to open in Japan

Metro, Europe’s second largest retail group, plans to enter the Japanese market as part of a campaign to expand its highly profitable cash-and-carry business into Asia.

The DA1sseldorf-based group on Monday confirmed Japanese press reports that it was looking at opening bulk stores in the country, but said it had no timetable.

Metro has long singled out Asia as one of its top areas of expansion, to offset sluggish retail growth in Europe. It now operates seven stores in western China and is set to enter Vietnam next year.

The group was understood to have signed a letter of intent earlier this year with former partner SHV Makro, the retailing arm of Dutch conglomerate SHV, to acquire its large Asian and Latin American cash-and-carry operations.

Yet the deal fell through after Erwin Conradi, then chairman of Metro’s supervisory board, expressed doubts about the quality of some Latin American assets. The dispute is said to have sparked the decision by Metro’s three core shareholders to ask Mr Conradi to step down last month.

Metro provided no details about its plans for Japan but analysts said it was likely to move cautiously at first because of the high cost of retail space in metropolitan areas, possibly by aiming at smaller stores than its average 10.000 to 15,000 square meters. Reuters