GUS, the cash-rich owner of Argos and Homebase, yesterday said it would return (pounds) 200m to shareholders as it reported a record full-year pre-tax profit of (pounds) 827m.
The retailer, which has been under pressure from investors to spin-off its credit checking business Experian, said it would ''review all strategic options'', over the next couple of years, including the possible demerger of the financial arm.
John Peace, chief executive, said yesterday: ''Today's announcement of a (pounds) 200m share buy-back and our intention to actively review all strategic options over the next two years further demonstrates our commitment to creating long-term shareholder value.''
Peace added that those options could range from ''keeping the company together in its current form to some form of logical separation that could involve Experian, or indeed Argos.''
Gus has already sold off a third of Burberry, its luxury goods unit, and said it is planning to hive off its South African retail interests later this year. Industry observers say Experian, which is valued at around (pounds) 4bn, may be hived off completely or part-floated on the stock market.
Matthew McEachran, a retail analyst at brokers Investec, which has raised its profits forecast for GUS for 2005 by 15% to (pounds) 895m, said: ''This is a pretty solid set of figures on some very good businesses.
''It now seems extremely likely that Experian will be demerged or part-floated or split off in some fashion, which of course would again likely increase the value for shareholders.''
Experian, which has its headquarters in Nottingham and California, employs 13,000 people and sells credit inform-ation in more than 50
countries.
The business generates around 18% of GUS sales and 33% of profits, but many analysts believe that its perform-ance is not fully reflected in the company's share price.
GUS, which was founded as a mail order business in Manchester in 1900, reported a 29% surge in its pre-tax profits, driven by strong sales across all its businesses, culminating in a 6% hike in total turnover to (pounds) 7.5bn
Sales at Argos Retail Group, which comprises Homebase and Argos, increased 10% to (pounds) 5.2bn, while those at Bur-berry climbed 13% to (pounds) 676m.
Meanwhile, Experian increased sales by 14% at constant exchange rates to (pounds) 1.22bn after winning major contracts with firms in France, Italy, Spain and Korea.
Like-for-like sales at its 278 Homebase stores, the DIY and home improvements chain which GUS bought in November 2002, rose by 3% to (pounds) 1.48bn.
The fastest growth was seen at outlets with the new ''mezzanine format'', which devotes more space to kitchens, bathrooms and home furnishings.
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