Hills Holdings is offloading its remaining building materials businesses so it can focus on selling more closed circuit TVs, antennas, alarms and other electronics products and services.
Hills will retain its lifestyle products business, which includes the iconic Hills Hoist clothes lines, as well as laundry trolleys, ironing boards, garden sprayers and doors.
However it has put its Orrcon steel tube and pipe business and its Fielders roofing and flooring business up for sale because they don’t generate high enough returns.
“We’re in the process of talking to a number of buyers, but these processes could be anywhere from a few months to a few years,” chief executive Ted Pretty told AAP on Wednesday.
Hills recently sold its 48 per cent stake in Korvest, which supplies cable and pipe support systems and walkway systems.
The sales come as Hills undergoes a major restructuring of its operations.
Mr Pretty said Hills wanted to maintain its connection with the home by providing traditional Hills-branded products for the home.
As part of that, Hills would expand its electronics and communications businesses – antennas, electronic security, closed circuit television, automation and control systems – to reach further into people’s homes.
“That could be everything from alarm monitoring, energy management – all of those sorts of things,” Mr Pretty said.
“The one great thing about the Hills brand is that it’s sort of permission to enter the home.”
Mr Pretty said electronics and communications devices were in a high-growth market compared to building products.
Hills would continue to offer products such as lighting, automation, security and surveillance products but was also keen to provide managed services in the sector.
The company also intends to spend up to $15 million on product development.
Funds raised from asset sales would be re-invested in two or three small acquisitions in high-growth areas.
In an investor update on its restructure on Wednesday, Hills said it was comfortable with analysts’ forecasts of a full-year underlying net profit for its continuing businesses of $16.2 million to $18.3 million.
The profit forecast is before impairment and restructuring charges of $114.8 million.
In February, Hills booked a net loss of $73.6 million for the six months to December 31, 2012.
Shares in Hills were 0.25 of a cent higher at $1.1225 at 1539 AEDT.