The Jones Group is to complete its exit from the shipping business through the sale of its Rathcarra vessel to an Argetinian company, at a net loss of £0.35 million. The purchase price is to be $8.16 million (£5.83 million ) and the deal has to be approved by company shareholders.

Jones announced in December that it was existing the shipping business and selling its selling its two newest ships, the Rathrowan and the Rathboyne and putting the Rathcarra on the market. The operating loss of the Rathcarra last year, before central shipping overheads, was £119,000. It is being sold to Mirabel Investments of Panama, a subsidiary of Antares Naviera of Argentina.

The company says that after the sale of its shipping and manufacturing businesses it will have substantial cash balances, which it proposes to distribute to shareholders. It is currently examining how to achieve this, although the disposals are estimated to lead to a £12 million - or 90p to 100p per share - special payout to its 700 shareholders.