Auchan could sell local business in Russia - newspaper

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - France's Auchan group could sell its business in Russia, the French newspaper La Lettre said.

La Lettre said that Auchan has found a "local buyer", and is in the final stages of negotiations to sell its Russian assets.

"Our answer remains the same. We do not comment on market rumors," a representative of Auchan's Russian division told Interfax.

Auchan LLC is the Russian division of Auchan that has been operating autonomously since 2022. The retail chain has been operating on the Russian market since 2002. The parent company did not receive dividends from the Russian legal entity in either 2023 or 2022 according to Russian Accounting Standards.

Auchan LLC saw revenue fall 4.7% to 226 billion rubles in 2023, and net profit drop to 460.2 million rubles from 4.7 billion rubles last year.