Giant is owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings. In its FY2018 annual report, the company said following a strategic review that a US$50 million ($69.4 million) impairment was made for Giant. “In Southeast Asia, our core issue rests within our Giant brand and particularly hypermarkets in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. We have significantly underinvested in these hypermarkets in the past and they now need a course correction to reshape and resize our offering, to ensure it is fit… to meet the demands of modern-day consumers and keep pace with the rising middle
class,” Dairy Farm said.
(Sept 2): Retailers appear to be exiting local shopping malls in droves, but the impact on the real estate investment trusts is probably limited. First, Giant hypermarket exited VivoCity earlier this year. Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) said in its 4QFY2019 (it has a March year-end) results announcement that it would be changing hypermarket operators at the mall. Giant would be replaced by Fairprice Xtra. Giant also exited Turf City in early August, to be replaced by HAOmart, and Giant at 10 Mile Junction was replaced by Sheng Siong. Elsewhere, Giant is a mini-anchor tenant at IMM, which belongs to CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), and at Suntec City, part of Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust.
A Suntec REIT spokeswoman says
Giant’s lease at Suntec City continues to run. Cold Storage Holdings, Giant’s immediate parent, leases 46,000 sq ft of net lettable area at Suntec REIT, most of which is occupied by Giant. Neither is Giant a significant tenant at CMT, being present only in IMM, among its 15 properties.
