PPR Seeks To Sell RedCats

French luxury group PPR noted it intends to sell its mail-order division Redcats, which encompasses catalogue retailer La Redoute, by the end of 2011, but will delay the sale if global financial markets plummet due to the US or Europe debt crisis. The company posted second quarter sales of 3.51 billion euros ($5.04 billion), up from 2.32 billion euros ($4.24 billion) from year ago. Profits grew 16.1% to 450 million euros ($631.3 million) from 388 million euros ($496.6 million) for the quarter. However, the company noted overall sales growth dropped to 5.4% during the second quarter, down from 9.1% in the first quarter, primarly due to weakness in mail-order and retail businesses. Sales at Redcats fell 3.6% to 821.5 million euros ($1.18 billion) for quarter. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux asserted Redcats carries an enterprise value of 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion).