THE future of three branches of Homebase in Swindon remains unclear after the company announced it was to close a quarter of its 323 stores.

Following a review of the chain, the Home Retail Group, which also owns retailer Argos, yesterday announced plans to cut around 80 Homebase stores by 2019 in a bid to “revitalise the business”.

Swindon currently has branches at the Greenbridge Retail Park, Bridgemead and the Orbital Shopping Park.

However, the firm refused to comment on the future of individual stores when approached by the Adver.

The announcement came as the group reported a pre-tax profit of £13.5m for the half-year up to the end of August, a fall of five per cent on last year, despite like-for-like sales at Homebase rising by 4.1 per cent.

A company spokesman said store closures would be made through not renewing expiring leases and selling sites to other retailers.

“Home Retail Group has announced a three-year plan for Homebase to revitalise the business for the future,” he said.

“Part of the plan will be to right-size the store estate through scheduled lease expiries and a series of sales to other retailers.

“Once they are identified, our colleagues will be the first to be informed about any of the affected stores, and where possible we will redeploy colleagues to other stores within the Group, or encourage retailers buying our leases to offer roles within their businesses locally.

“These changes are necessary to make Homebase a stronger business for the future.”

Announcing the results, John Walden, chief executive of Home Retail Group, said: “In April I set out my near term priorities for the group, which included undertaking a comprehensive review of group strategy and its priorities going forward, in particular as they relate to Homebase.”

He added: “Homebase is a good business with the basis for future growth.

“In this context, Homebase will pursue a three-year plan through to the end of FY18 (financial year 2018) to improve the productivity of its store estate, strengthen its propositions and accelerate its digital capabilities by leveraging Argos’ investments.

“This will position Homebase as a smaller but stronger business, ready for investment and growth.”

It was also announced that managing director of Homebase, Paul Loft, would step down.