Findel sells online businesses in move to reduce its debts

The sale to fast-growing online retailer The Hut Group follows Findel's decision to dispose of or terminate non-core or loss-making operations,.

Findel, based in Burley-in-Wharfedale, had net debts of 309.6m in April and the group said the sale is a step in the right direction to reducing them.

I Want One of Those.com goes by the trademark of "stuff you don't need... but you really, really want".

Best sellers include an AK-47 rapid fire water pistol, an instant ice lolly maker and an iPod Equaliser Sound Bar docking station.

Confetti, which offers wedding advice and merchandise, has a website, five UK stores including one in Leeds, and a mail order business. It attracts 360,000 users a month and is one of the top female websites in the UK.

The two websites made a pre-tax loss of 13.8m in the year to April 2. They have gross assets of 5.7m and net liabilities of 19.3m.

Following the sale, Findel said it will focus its full attention on the core businesses. A review of the remaining operations is due to be published over the coming months.

Analyst Freddie George at Seymour Pierce welcomed the sale.

"The stock, in our view, is still in the intensive care room but is now looking more interesting after a halving in value over the last month," he said.

"We are, however, still concerned about the high level of debt."

Last month the group announced a 76m pre-tax statutory loss. New chairman David Sugden believes the company has some businesses with "significant potential" for improved performance.

"The new team has drawn a clear line in the sand," he said. "The group contains a number of profitable and cash generative businesses."

The business review is expected to focus on the core home shopping business. The group is in the process of getting rid of a number of internet businesses that were bought for large sums of money but have since become a millstone.

As part of the strategy to dispose of or terminate non-core or loss-making operations, it has already closed mail order brands Cotswold and Letterbox.

In June, it sold its struggling entertainment retailing business Webb to Leeds-based turnaround specialist Endless for 1. Endless pledged to invest 15m in Webb, which has been starved of trade credit.

The group is likely to keep the troubled education supplies division, despite it reporting an operating loss of 9m in the year to April 2.

This followed the discovery of accounting errors by the former management. While no money was actually stolen, the former management had overstated the performance of the business.