Boots warns on profits again; to sell BHI

Boots Group PLC, the health and beauty retailer, has warned on profits for the second time in five weeks but softened the blow for investors by announcing plans to dispose of Boots Healthcare International (BHI), its over-the-counter medicines business, with a "significant portion" of the proceeds going to shareholders.
The Nottingham-based group, whose share price has recently been buoyed by talk of a possible private equity bid, also detailed plans for a sale and leaseback of 300 of Boots The Chemists' (BTC) smaller stores.
It expects the process to raise around 250 mln stg by the end of the summer. These will be used to pay down debt, with the transaction broadly earnings per share neutral.
News of the strategic initiatives accompanied a new warning that BTC's operating profit for the year to end-March 2006 is likely to be lower than the 470 mln stg flagged on March 1 for the year to March 31 2005 due to anticipated lower consumer spending and higher infrastructure costs.
Boots said BTC's fourth quarter to March 31 2005 sales on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of new and closed space, were down 0.9 pct.
However, adjusting for the leap day in February 2004 and other calendar effects underlying like-for-like sales were up 0.7 pct.

Morning all

I think digger posted todays news on yesterdays thread?

A lot of empty boxes this morning!

Good morning all.