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(Alliance News) -Â Retailer Frasers Group PLC on Friday noted its disappointment over the business rates relief announced by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the budget on Wednesday.
"Whilst the retail industry as a whole has repeatedly asked for structural reform of business rates, none has been forthcoming. Frasers Group and many retailers would have expected suitable relief until structural reform is implemented," the owner of House of Fraser and Sports Direct said.
The GBP2 million rates cap on businesses from July 2021 to March 2022 makes it a "near worthless support package" for large retailers, Frasers added.
The cap will make it "nearly impossible" to take on former Debenhams sites, Frasers said, and will also mean the company needs to review its entire portfolio to look at stores that are unviable due to business rates.
Online-only fashion retailer boohoo - with a market capitalisation of GBP3.99 billion on Friday morning versus Frasers' valuation of GBP2.32 billion - snapped up the intellectual property assets of department store Debenhams Retail Ltd in late January for GBP55 million in cash. The deal did not include any Debenhams physical stores.
Debenhams started a liquidation process in December after failing to secure a last-minute rescue sale.
"Frasers Group believes that retailers should pay the fair amount of rates in line with realistic rateable values, but instead we continue to have an unwieldy, overly complex, and out of date business rates regime," the firm said.
Shares in Frasers were down 0.2% at 463.60 pence in London on Friday.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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