NEW! Investment Companies Centre

TV's Alan Sugar takes Woolworths stake

Related Companies

Related Indices

Related Sectors

News for Spread Betters

PreviousPrevious
NextNext

There's a new Investor Edition of CMC Markets' spread betting platform... and it's exclusive to DigitalLook.com users...

Get full details about Marketmaker:Investor Edition here. Advertisement

By Lee Wild

Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - Computer millionaire and TV star Sir Alan Sugar thinks Woolworths is worth a punt having just snapped up almost 4% of the battered high street retailer.

The tough-talking host of the BBC’s The Apprentice bought his 3.88% interest following a plunge in the share price to just 3.14p from over 21p less than a year ago.

Experts said the move demonstrates that some of these bombed out stocks are starting to represent value despite the likelihood of a recession.

Woolies has also agreed to sell nine of its shops to Tesco over the next six months for as much as £9m in cash. The money will help reduce debt.

It expects to pocket a profit of about £7m if all nine leases are transferred, which will be disclosed as part of the operating profit from property transactions. Their net asset value is around £1m.

The company denied last month that it had put its retail arm up for sale despite a record interim loss after a poor first half at the division.

It posted a deficit of £99.7m in the half year to end July, up from £63.8m. Sales fell 3% to £1.1bn. The group also cautioned that deterioration in the credit insurance market may increase the group's working capital requirements.

Digital Look have been voted
"Best Research and Information Provider"

4th Floor, Bankside House, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF.
Registered in England and Wales (registered no. 3678570).