Kanebo Ltd., undergoing state-backed rehabilitation, plans to sell its fashion division, company officials said Thursday night.
The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan, supervising Kanebo's revival efforts, is expected to choose a buyer for the fashion unit by year's end.
Although Kanebo described the division as one of its core segments capable of supporting its rehabilitation efforts, it decided it would probably not generate strong sales and profits amid the overall slump in the apparel industry.
Consolidated sales in the fashion division, licensed to sell top brands Lanvin and Fila, dropped 25.8 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier to 4.2 billion yen.
In addition to the fashion division, Kanebo has food, pharmaceutical, and health and beauty divisions.
The sale of the division will probably coincide with the selection through an IRCJ-organized tender of a corporate group to take over rehabilitating Kanebo and Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. Kanebo Cosmetics was spun off in May 2004 for separate rehabilitation under IRCJ.