Following on from the announcement of its results, Sun Art has said its chief executive, Ludovic Holinier had resigned from his role. The retailer said Holinier will be replaced by Ming-Tuan Huang.

Huang to sustain recent strategy

At the moment, Huang is chairman of RT-Mart and is responsible for the overall strategic planning and management of the Group. He has also been CEO of RT-Mart Limited Shanghai where he is responsible for devising and implementing its overall strategies and the supervision of its business operations.

According to the press release announcing the change in management “The appointment of Mr Huang as the new general manager clearly shows the group's determination and confidence to revitalise its hypermarket and popularise New Retail.”

Will oversee further merging of RT-Mart and Auchan

One of Huang’s first responsibilities will be in implementing the creation of a single joint headquarters for RT-Mart and Auchan, which was announced in December 2018. The step will also see RT-Mart assist Auchan in upgrading its IT system and the supply chain as the two banners are integrated. However, the two companies are not being merged, with the step focused on ‘ improving the use of technology and management… with the purpose of enhancing efficiency of the Group.

As Auchan looks to drive its Vision 2025 strategy faster it has announced operational changes in France and the launch of Horizon International Services. Meanwhile, at a local level it continues to evolve its channel presence, driving growth in its small store estate and with its online fulfilment.

Horizon International Services is officially launched

Following approval from the relevant competition authorities, Auchan, Casino, Metro and DIA have officially announced the launch of Horizon International Services. First announced in July 2018 the alliance will cover 47 countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America where the four companies operate.

Announcing the launch, a press release from Metro said: “Horizon International Services will enable Auchan Retail, Casino Group, METRO and DIA to pool their resources to forge balanced and innovative relationships based on a catalogue of common, scalable services, in the best interests of all actors in the supply chain, from the manufacturer through to the consumer.”

Auchan Retail France appoints new management committee

Lineaires has reported that Auchan Retail France has established a new management committee. The new structure will see the retailer move away from organising itself by channel, choosing instead to group itself into eight multi-format geographical regions and one that covers franchising and partnerships.

The new management committee, with someone to be appointed to the Grand-Est region in the future, will be made up of:

• Serge Lalleman, Nord-Pas-de-Calais
• Olivier Barbry, Normandie / Picardie / Littoral
• Christophe Carreyre, Centre / Loire-Atlantique
• Frédéric Davignon, Île-de-France / Paris intra-muros
• Olivier Louis, Île-de-France / Paris grande couronne
• Béatrice Felter, Auvergne / Rhône-Alpes
• Anthony Nobis, Occitanie / Méditerranée
• Emmanuel Zeller, franchising and partnerships

Auchan reopens Pedestrian Drive in Paris…

Adding further to the competitive environment in Paris, Auchan has reopened its Drive site in rue Saint-Charles in Paris under the Auchan Drive banner. First opened in April 2014 the store enables shoppers to collect orders made on auchandrive.fr, auchan.fr and through its app between two to four hours of making the purchase.

…Expands partnership with OMV for MyAuchan banner in Romania

Auchan and OMV have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that could lead to the expansion of their partnership. If carried through the MoU could lead to the addition of further MyAuchan stores on the latter’s forecourts. The two companies have been working together since 2017, when the trial of 15 MyAuchan stores on OMV’s forecourts began. The stores were opened in both urban and rural areas to enable the two to test the effectiveness of the business model.

Commenting on the results, OMV’s directorate for downstream oil, Radu-Sorin Caprau, said: “The results so far are encouraging, and we are happy to negotiate the expansion of the partnership and have more MyAuchan proximity stores on our Petrom stations. This association aims to add more substance to the promise of the Petrom brand, with MyAuchan stores perfectly complementing Petrom’s classic benefits: affordable, efficient fuels and stations anytime…”

For subscribers wanting more on Auchan’s outlook, read our strategic outlook for the retailer.

China’s major hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, set up by Auchan and Ruentex and backed up by Alibaba, reported a 7.3% fall in 2018 profit.

Missing market expectations

The retailer reported its net profit fell to RMB2.59bn (US$386m) from RMB2.79bn (US$386m). This was below the expected RMB2.70bn. Turnover fell by 2.9% to RMB99.36 bn and same-store sales fell 1.72% year-on-year. The group’s gross profit margin increased by 1.2 percentage point from last year to 25.3%.

2019 plan

The company, operating under the “RT-Mart” and “Auchan” banners, says that the competition is fierce including online. "2018 was a year where the digitalization of our retail business began, and also a year to plan future development," the company said in a statement. "Through digital management, supply will be closely tied with demand to provide customers with the right product offering, good prices..."

Just one day after publishing its 2018 results, Sun Art announced plan to open 25 more stores in China this year, aiming to return to positive growth in 2019.

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