SKILLED Group sells call centre unit

Contract labour services provider SKILLED Group (ASX:SKE) has sold its call centre business to international services company Serco for an initial $8.2 million.

SKILLED Group completed the sale of its Excelior unit on Wednesday. The company has already advised it expects a pre-tax profit of the sale of $4.5 million in FY12.

As well as the initial payment, the company will be eligible for further earn-out payments of up to $5 million over the next two years, if certain revenue targets are met.

All proceeds from the sale will be put towards reducing debt. The $4.5 million forecast assumes 50% of the earn-out payment is received in FY12.

But Skilled Group also advised it expects the business services segment to report an ebitda loss of around $1 million, due to restructuring costs and a decision to exit unprofitable direct sales contracts.

SKILLED Group first announced it was shopping for a buyer for Excelior in February, as part of a plan to refocus on its core businesses and divest non-core assets.

SKE shares fell 0.82% on Tuesday to $1.810.