Egg in talks over sale of French ops

Internet bank Egg today offered a glimmer of hope for workers affected by the planned closure of the company’s failed venture in France.

Egg said it was now in talks to sell the majority of the operation after Banque Accord showed interest in the credit card and loans arm.

The partial disposal, which does not include the savings and current accounts side of the business, could result in the re-deployment of 100 of Egg France’s 450-strong workforce, the UK-based company said.

Egg launched in France in November 2002 but began closure steps in July after racking up heavy losses and seeing customer numbers fall short of hopes.

Plans to revive the business – known as La Carte Egg – were revealed last October but required more investment than Egg was prepared to take on.

The problems in France were also seen as a potential hurdle to a sale of the wider Egg business, although Prudential later decided to keep ownership.

The potential interest from Banque Accord could involve as many as 66,000 credit card customers. Egg added it still expected closure costs relating to Egg France to remain within the previously announced €170m.

In the three months to March 31, the French operation reported losses of £15.8m (€22.9m) – virtually wiping out profits in the UK division, where Egg employs about 2,000 people.