Corus expected to sell aluminium arm
Steel group Corus look set to part with its aluminium business after seeing full-year losses widen to nearly £500m (€808m).
Corus issues full-year figures tomorrow and is likely to offset the gloom by announcing its intention to sell the aluminium business.
The operation, which is mainly based in Germany, Canada and Belgium, is one of the profitable elements of Corus with annual sales of £1 billion (€1.8 billion).
However, the Sunday Telegraph says the business is still considered too small to compete with powerful producers such as Alcan.
The aluminium division could fetch £1 billion (€1.8 billion), relieving debt levels and allowing the company to invest in its steel businesses, including a vast mill at Port Talbot, south Wales.
Figures tomorrow from Corus are likely to show an annual pre-tax loss of around £450 million - almost double the previous deficit.
Weak steel prices and the downturn in manufacturing have hit the company, while it has been hampered by the strength of sterling against the euro.
The group, formed following the merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens in 1999, attracted the wrath of unions and politicians last year by cutting 6,000 UK jobs in a bid to revive its fortunes.
