Business
Conditional sale of surplus land - update
Conditional sale of surplus land - update.
About this update from Norcros Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 9383Y Norcros PLC 31 January 2014 \n \n\n \n \n31 January 2014\n \nNorcros\n \n(\"Norcros\", the \"Group\" or the \"Company\")\n \n \nConditional sale of surplus land - update\n \nNorcros, the market leading supplier of innovative branded showers, taps, bathroom accessories, tiles and adhesives, announces that the conditional contract to sell part of its surplus freehold land to Optimisation Developments Limited, a subsidiary of WM Morrison Supermarkets plc (together \"Morrisons\") is the subject of a dispute between the two parties, and the Board now considers it unlikely that Morrisons will proceed in line with the contract.\n \nAs announced in August 2011, the conditional contract to sell this surplus land for gross cash proceeds of £8.25m was dependent on obtaining acceptable planning consent for the site. The Group estimated the land required certain infrastructure developments amounting to approximately £5.65m thereby generating expected net proceeds of £2.6m on the disposal. \n \nPlanning consent was obtained on the Highgate site, Tunstall in May 2013 for a 71,000 square feet foodstore for Morrisons and associated non-food retail units. However, a dispute as to whether this constitutes an acceptable planning consent has not been resolved, and more recently Morrisons have been refusing to proceed in line with the contract. The Board and its legal advisers believe the planning consent to be acceptable, and is considering its next actions regarding the contract, including seeking compensation from Morrisons. \n \nThe Board will consider the carrying value of the surplus land in question and report on this at its preliminary results announcement in June 2014. There is no change to the Group's forward guidance for underlying earnings or net debt as a result of this update.\n \n \nENQUIRIES:\n \n\n\n\n\nNorcros plc\n\n\nTel: 01625 547 700\n\n\n\n\nNick Kelsall, Group Chief Executive \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMartin Payne, Group Finance Director\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHudson Sandler\n\n\nTel: 0207 796 4133\n\n\n\n\nNick Lyon\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCharlie Jack\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKatie Matthews\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \nNotes to Editors\n· Norcros is a leading supplier ...