Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Woolworths’ shares were suspended for a short period this morning after the retailer announced that it was in talks to sell its retail operation.
It said in a statement: “The board can confirm that it is in preliminary discussions regarding a possible offer for the retail business. There can be no assurance that any offer will be forthcoming.”
The shares were suspended for 20 minutes after 8am and were trading down 6.6% at 3.56p soon afterwards.
A recent profits warning from Woolworths revealed that it had made an unprecedented loss of £99.7m in the first half of this year and there are doubts over whether it can survive. It is reported to be in consultation with restructuring specialist Hilco.
Former Focus DIY boss Steve Johnson joined Woolworths three months ago as chief executive, taking over from Trevor Bish-Jones.
