Thorn, the electrical goods retailer that owns the Radio Rentals chain, is planning to become a purely British company after announcing a 31% fall in pre-tax profits to £118m ($193m).

The group plans to sell off all its foreign operations within the next 18 months and return the proceeds to shareholders.

Thorn's break up plan comes in the wake of a takeover approach from an unnamed third party, which the group announced last month.

Thorn said it had not received a firm offer and that investors should not assume that one would be forthcoming.

Steve Marshall, chief executive of Thorn, said: "What we're saying today is nothing is happening."

The advent of Digital TV may make for a brighter picture

Unveiling the results of a strategic review into the business, Mr Marshall said: "What the board was very clear on was that the underlying value of all the...operations...was not reflected in the current share price."

Thorn said the sale of its US Rent-a-Center chain was well underway and could be completed within months.

It has also put its Asia-Pacific and European operations up for sale. It will be left with the Radio Rentals chain and Crazy George discount stores.

Thorn's shares have collapsed since it was demerged from EMI, the music giant, in 1996. Radio Rentals has had a difficult year with customers using windfalls from the demutualisation of building societies to buy televisions and videos rather than rent them.

A raft of US litigation over the terms of Thorn's rental agreements has also depressed its market value. However Thorn said it hoped that the advent of digital TV would help future sales. The shares edged up 0.5p to 204p.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©