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Focus DIY store

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8:24 am, February 9, 2010
Focus asks for more time to pay rent

Focus DIY, the Crewe-based home improvement chain, has exercised an option to pay rent a week late in January and February after takings were hit by the bad weather, according to a report in The Times.

The company agreed a company voluntary arrangement with landlords last year to stop paying rent on 38 closed down outlets. The agreement included a clause allowing Focus to have up to a week's additional time to pay its monthly rent bill.

Focus, headed by chief executive Bill Grimsey, later issued a statement in which stopped short of denying that the company has asked for more time to pay.

The statement added: "We have paid and will continue to pay our rent commitments completely within the terms of our CVA which was fully supported by our landlords in 2009. Our landlords have been fully informed of our payment timetable since the CVA process was completed.

"We continue to selectively roll out our new store format with the recent conversion of three stores, in Winnersh, Kingswinford and Morecambe. These stores have experienced a strong uplift in sales and are contributing significantly to the overall growth of the business."

Retail analysts see the rent issue as an indication that cash flow remains tight at the group, but Focus, owned by US private equity group Cerberus, said it had recently passed covenant tests with ample headroom and was not seeking any additional funding.

Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, is said to have requested the same terms from its landlords.

BDO's High Street Sales Tracker calculated that homewares retailers, who are dependent on customers driving to their stores, saw sales drop 8.2 per cent last month due to the snow.

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