Baugur-backed department store group House of Fraser expects to halve its debt burden by the end of this year. The retailer was taken over by a consortium, whose members include Scotland's richest man Sir Tom Hunter, for £351.4m last year. HoF chairman Don McCarthy, who is also a Baugur board director, said the group's sales performance had been better than its five-year plan anticipated, and that he expects to 'be well ahead' by the end of the current financial year.

He expects debt levels to come down from six times earnings to around three-and-a-half times. In its last year as a public company, HoF made profits of £27.3m on sales of £700m.