WH SMITH has been forced to slash the price of its high street arm by a fifth in a last-minute renegotiation.
The purchase by Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital was completed yesterday.
But WH Smith now expects gross proceeds of only up to £40million, £12million down from the £52million it first forecast.
WH Smith said: “Following the agreement and announcement of the sale, the future of the high street business under a change of ownership has led to a more cautious outlook amongst stakeholders.”
It agreed to renegotiate on the price “given the original agreement was no longer deliverable”.
The sale, signed in March, had valued the high street stores at £76million.
Shares in WHSmith, now focused on travel site stores in airports and train stations in the UK and globally, closed 3 per cent lower.
Modella will take over all 480 high street stores and rebrand them as TGJones.
Energy drop
MILLIONS of household energy bills have been cut by 7 per cent after regulator Ofgem slashed its price cap today.
Annual bills have dropped from £1,849 to £1,720, saving £129 a year for 22 million households on standard variable tariffs.
Electricity now costs 25.73p per kWh and gas 6.33p per kWh.
Uswitch urged families to lock in fixed rates now, with deals up to £145 cheaper than the July cap.
Santander in TSB push
SANTANDER has made a bid for TSB, which values the British retail bank at more than £2.3billion.
TSB — which has £46billion in assets and £35billion in deposits — is currently owned by another Spanish lender, Sabadell, whose board could meet as early as today to decide whether to accept.
Barclays is also said to be in the running to buy TSB, though it has not commented.
The proposed sale comes as Sabadell looks to fend off a takeover attempt by rival BBVA.
Analysts believe selling TSB could be a defensive move.
Nissan's cuts
NISSAN is set to cut jobs at its Sunderland factory as part of a global workforce reduction announced in May.
The carmaker, which employs 6,000 people at the plant, wants to make operations “leaner and more flexible”.
Reports by Japan’s Kyodo News suggest up to 250 workers could be laid off.
Despite the cuts, the factory will produce the company’s new Leaf EV model.
