Offloading Comet will cost Kesa extra after trading setback

A post-Christmas collapse at Comet will cost parent company Kesa Electricals up to £15m more than it thought to get the retailer off its hands.

Kesa Electricals struck a deal with retail turnaround business OpCapita in November to sell Comet for £2 in a deal that sees it pump £50m into the business. Despite a good run-up to Christmas, overall like-for-like revenues slumped 14.5 per cent between 1 November and 8 January.

Kesa agreed to bear any net debt carried by Comet above £32m. But Comet's poor trading means it will be up to £15m above this threshold.