Tesco sells the department store My in the center of Prague

Prague - The retail chain Tesco continues to divest assets in the Czech Republic, with the company selling the My department store in the center of Prague. According to an expert assessment by NSG Morison, the value of the property, after subtracting all liabilities, is approximately 171 million crowns. The company published the assessment in the commercial register. Tesco has already separated the department store into a standalone company.

The value of the assets amounts to nearly 950 million crowns, but according to the assessment, there are total liabilities on the building of 681 million crowns. The deferred tax liability from the revaluation of the property is 93 million crowns. According to the E15 newspaper, the buyer is the Amádeus Real company, which already purchased a department store from Tesco last year in Plzeň on Americká Street.

Tesco previously stated that it is seeking new uses for its department stores - these are buildings that are several decades old and are located in attractive locations. They need to be completely modernized. "For this reason, we are looking for alternative uses for them, so they can better serve the people in their surroundings. This also applies to the My department store on Národní Street. There is no change in its operation, and Tesco continues to operate the entire department store, including the hypermarket on the ground floor," said company spokesperson Václav Koukolíček to ČTK today.

The construction of the department store formerly known as Máj was built on the site of the demolished neo-Gothic Šlik Palace. It was opened to the public in 1975. The shape and style of the building draw from elements of neofunctionalism. Tesco has owned the building since 1996. In 2006, the department store was declared a cultural monument due to its original construction. A extensive renovation took place in the autumn of 2009, and the name of the department store was changed to My. The department store has seven above-ground floors, with a leasable sales area of 12,000 m2.

Tesco sold its one-third stake in the Nový Smíchov shopping center last year to its majority owner, the French real estate company Klepierre. The Prague Letňany Shopping Center was purchased from it by the German company Union Institutional Investment GmbH. Tesco also sold the Forum shopping center in Liberec. The real estate company Rockcastle paid 80 million euros (2.2 billion crowns) for it. The chain has also divested department stores in Plzeň and Brno.

In the financial year 2016/2017, Tesco fell into a loss of 1.09 billion crowns in the Czech Republic. According to the company, the worse financial results were due to a change in asset valuation. Revenues from Czech stores rose by two percent to 44.5 billion crowns. The unpaid losses of the chain from previous years amount to 7.2 billion crowns. The chain has about 200 stores in the Czech Republic. With a workforce of 11,210, Tesco is among the largest domestic employers.