Steinhoff International has suspended former chief financial officer Ben La Grange and ex-director Stehan Grobler in the first action taken against executives by the company as part of an ongoing investigation into the retailer group’s finances following an accounting scandal.

Crisis-hit South African retailer, Steinhoff — which owns the Dealz-Poundland discount stores in Ireland — is considering “all of its options” to support its liquidity, after a report that it could sell a stake in its African unit.

South Africa’s Steinhoff International — which owns the Dealz-Poundland stores in Ireland — plans to sell almost 7.5bn rand (€509m) of shares in South African financial services firm PSG Group, the latest in a line of disposals aimed at shoring up the retail group’s battered balance sheet.

Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second biggest supermarket, reported its first quarterly sales increase in more than two years, three days before a deadline for it to raise its offer for Home Retail, which owns Argos.

British takeover target Home Retail reported improved trading at its Argos stores and a bigger-than-expected cash pile yesterday, a week before a deadline for bids.