French retailer Carrefour denies it is withdrawing from Japan

TOKYO, (AFP) - French retail giant Carrefour SA has denied a press report it is planning to sell its operations in Japan.
"Carrefour Japan will not withdraw from the Japanese market," said Carrefour Japan Co. Ltd. president Loic Dubois, through his press office.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on its website that the compay could raise up to 400 million dollars from the sale of its eight stores which could be used to cover losses in Europe.
Paris-based Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer after US colossus Wal-Mart, opened its first shop in Japan in 2000.
Carrefour's hypermarkets are valuable real estate, the newspaper noted.
Possible buyers include Wal-Mart -- which according to the report has been aggressively trying to expand in Japan since it bought into Seiyu Ltd. in 2002 -- as well as Britain's Tesco PLC and Japan's biggest retailer, Aeon.
Carrefour, which has 6,067 stores around the world, has been losing market share to discounters and has been especially hurt by a soft market in Europe, where it derives more than half of its sales.