Home Retail Group (HOME) is to sell its freehold Homebase store in Battersea, London, for £57m in cash, as part of a wider strategy of rationalising the estate.
The three-year plan will see the number of Homebase stores shrink by a quarter to create a more efficient, productive and profitable retailer. In the current financial year, 25 outlets will shut, positioning Homebase as a "smaller but stronger business" according to chief executive John Walden. The deal is expected to complete in 12 months, with £30m received in the current financial year and the remaining £27m the year after. The sale, together with the store closures, will result in a 2 per cent slide in full-year sales, but won't impact benchmark pre-tax profit. Accordingly, full-year guidance remains unchanged.
