Wilde about Wyevale

Pop star turned gardening guru Kim Wilde has been hired as the face of Wyevale Garden Centres for 2005. The retailer, which is tipped as a bid target, is exploring ways of raising cash from its £170m freehold property portfolio after representations from some of its ‘largest shareholders’.
Some sites could be sold for housing or redevelopment. Pretax profit fell from £20.5m to £15.1 last year, with underlying earnings down 3.9pc. Dividends rise from 13.61p to 14.02p. Wyevale (down 2½o to 469½p) said sales for the last nine weeks are up 9.5 pc.