UK retail chain Sainsbury’s is looking with interest at an expansion into Asia, leveraging the company’s solid results in the British domestic market.
The retailer is considering opportunities in India and China, among others, no doubt spurred on by the successes in the region of competitors Tesco and Marks & Spencer, reported FIS.
“We are looking in general at what international can bring,” said the company’s new development director Darren Shapland.
But any development in Asia would come after the completion of Sainsbury’s current five-year domestic growth plan, he added.
Sainsbury’s has forayed into international markets before; around 10 years ago, the company owned one retail chain in Egypt and one in the US, before selling them off because of financial pressures in its UK operations.
The company has been doing well on the UK market recently, however; sales in the six months to 28 October rose 7 per cent to £11.9bn.
Fellow British retailer Tesco has been solidifying its position in Asia over the last few years, marked by significant work on its fresh produce supply chain. Tesco has emerged as one of the major players in South East Asia in particular.
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