Breakfast briefing: Retail news on BHS, French Connection and more

Philip Green to sign a deal with pensions regulator

Sir Philip Green is close to securing a deal costing him more than £350m to fund the pensions of former BHS staff, The Daily Telegraph reported.

It is understood that a preliminary deal could be announced this week.

Green is working on a structure where BHS's pensioners would be paid outside of the Pension Protection Fund, which comes with an automatic 10% cut to entitlements.

The Pensions Regulator’s spokesperson confirmed that talks were "progressing".

"We remain in discussion with Sir Philip’s advisers," he added.

"Any settlement offer we accept has to be robust enough to stand the test of time and mean that members and the PPF are not left in a worse position further down the road."

French Connection to sell store to Under Armour

French Connection is in talks with Under Armour for the sale of its Oxford Street store amid a decline in its cash reserves, The Daily Telegraph reported.

French Connection was trying to offload the building for £10m but has reduced the price to £5m.

Under Armour is trying to make its first entrance in the UK by taking on the Oxford Street lease.

French Connection currently has 39 stores in the UK, down from 58 two year earlier.

Ocado expected to report a profit

Ocado will report its annual results today with analyst forecasting a profit for the third consecutive year, The Belfast Telegraph reported.

City analysts are predicting yearly pre-tax profits of £10.5m, which is less than the £11.9m obtained last year.

During December, there was an increase in sales in the fourth quarter. However, order sizes decreased owing to a supermarket price war.

Dreams is planning a £400m sale

Dreams is set to sell the chain for approximately £400m following a trebling profits, clearing of debts and closing a series of stores, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Private-equity firm Sun European Partners has appointed Rothschild to search for potential buyers.

The bed retailer had reported £285m in sales in its latest accounts following a 40% boost in like-for-likes.

Paperchase appoints new non-executive chairman

Pets at Home’s former chief executive Nick Wood is set to become the non-executive chairman of Paperchase, The Times reported.

Wood’s appointment is expected to be revealed today. He will be replacing George MrKonic, who continues as a non-executive director.

Wood said: “I wanted to find a retail business to support and work with that had growth potential. I feel there is a real opportunity for growth as Paperchase is still small, and I felt I could help them with the strategic challenge.”