(Updates with further details in paragraphs 2, 4, 5, background in paragraph 3)

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers

said on Tuesday its e-commerce retailer, Catch, will cease to operate as a standalone business in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Wesfarmers, Australia's biggest non-food retail group, said it would transfer Catch's e-commerce fulfilment centres to Kmart Group while select digital capabilities developed in Catch will be transferred to Wesfarmers' retail divisions.

The company acquired Catch Group for about A$230 million ($144.26 million) in 2019 to boost the small online footprint of its retail units such as Kmart and Target.

"Wesfarmers expects to record one-off costs associated with the wind down and transition of Catch of between A$50 million and A$60 million, to be included in the results for the second half of the 2025 financial year," the conglomerate said in its statement.

"The recent increase in competitive intensity in the Australian e-commerce sector has affected Catch's financial performance and growth prospects," said Wesfarmers' managing director, Rob Scott.

($1 = 1.5944 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel and Diane Craft)

((Shivangi.Lahiri@thomsonreuters.com;))