THE British Alliance & Leicester Building Society, which is planning to convert itself into a bank next year, revealed it has made a £40 million provision for the expected loss on the sale of its estate agency business.

The society signalled earlier this year that it wanted to pull out of estate agency and a spokesman said it hoped current talks would lead to the entire 70 strong chain being sold as a single business. The £40 million provision, coupled with a £3 million charge for bad debts, left group pre tax profits last year ahead by just £3 million at £287 million.