The Australian owner of Homebase has announced around 40 store closures across the UK after it said it expected to report losses of £97m for the first half of the year.
Homebase, which has many stores across Yorkshire, was bought by Wesfarmers, which also runs Bunnings stores, for £340m in 2016. It has since been making changes to the DIY shop’s model but this has resulted in£584m worth of writedowns.
In an unscheduled investor update, the company said that it was reviewing the Homebase and Bunnings business after taking a £454m non-cash impairment on the acquisition, along with £37m of write-downs of “excess, unsuitable and display” stock, £40m on store closure provisions, and a £53m hit on deferred tax assets.
The UK business is also expected to report a £97m underlying loss for the first half of the year, Wesfarmers said, reflecting “the poor trading performance of Homebase”
Bunnings Rotherham
Up to 2,000 jobs could be lost with around 40 UK stores under threat of closure. Wesfarmers is rebranding Homebase as Bunnings – one store in Yorkshire – at Parkgate in Rotherham – is one of 19 have have already undergone the change and opened its doors in December.
It is understood that the Bunnings stores will be closely monitored for profitability in 2018 and could be saved from the closures.
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