BIG Food Group, which owns Iceland, is set to raise £129.3m from the sale and leaseback of 31 of its premises.

The proposed deal with French insurer Axa covers 12 cash-and-carry premises, three distribution centres and offices and 16 retail shops.

Big Food has also entered into a new £300m debt facility with its bankers.

A bond issue will also raise £150m as part of a restructuring of the group's finances.

Analysts had been concerned that Big Food may have been forced into a rights issue to fund the recovery drive. The plans were unveiled as Big Food revealed that a trading slump may have bottomed out.

It reported an overall improvement of 2.2 per cent in like-for-like business in the six weeks to May 10.

Big Food's core Iceland supermarkets business saw sales stabilise during the period with underlying like-for-like growth of 0.1 per cent.

In March, Big Food revealed plans to open 80 Iceland stores by 2005 as part of a strategic review.