The new Australian owner of the Homebase DIY business has reported a pre-tax loss of £54 million in its first full year of ownership. In a sign of how tough trading is in the DIY sector and on the high street, Bunnings said that its UK business had been hit by £19 million in one-off “transition and restructuring” costs as well as “significant disruption” to its trading as it sought to reposition the Homebase business. Bunnings, which is enormously popular in Australia and is famed for its Saturday “sausage sizzle” events, is part of the Wesfarmers group, which bought Homebase for £340 million last year. The retailer is trialling its Bunnings Warehouse concept in stores across Britain to gauge demand before rebranding all of its…

Source: The Times August 17, 2017 23:03 UTC