French retail giant Carrefour said today it had cancelled a planned sale of its stores in Malaysia and Singapore, deciding instead to build up its market share in the Asian nations.

The world's second-biggest retailer behind US colossus Wal-Mart, Carrefour had said this week it was offloading 42 stores in Thailand and was also looking to sell its 23 Malaysian and two Singaporean outlets.

B NONE ut the firm decided to retain its presence in Malaysia and Singapore following a "strategic review", Carrefour chief executive Lars Olofsson said in a statement issued in Malaysia.

"We have decided not to sell our operations in Malaysia and Singapore because their market position and their growth prospect are consistent with our strategy," Olofsson said.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported Olofsson as saying the planned auction did not attract high enough bids, but the chief executive played down those claims in his statement.

"We received good offers but we came to the conclusion that we can create more value by ourselves," he said, adding that the company can capitalise on its significant market share in the Malaysia's retail market.

Carrefour is the third-largest retailer in Malaysia and Olofsson pledged to invest "the necessary means" to improve its position in the market.

The French company on Monday said it was selling its Thai business to rival Big C, part of the French Casino group, for 868 million euros (US$1.19 billion).

Reports emerged in July that Carrefour was planning to sell its business in all three Southeast Asian countries in an apparent bid to consolidate its business and move its resources to the booming Indian market.

However, the company denied the reported realignment in August.

According to Carrefour, Asia accounted for 7.6 percent of its total net sales of 85.96 billion euros in 2009, compared to 13.7 percent for Latin America and 35.7 percent for Europe excluding France.

Overall, Carrefour's sales in the third quarter were up by 6.7 percent to 25.61 billion euros (36 billion dollars). The growth was higher than a 6.1-percent increase forecast by analysts.

- AFP