Internet bank Egg will be forced to keep the champagne on ice over the festive season after failing to meet a year-end deadline for the sale of its loss-making French business. The group had hoped to complete negotiations on a possible joint venture or "other transaction" for the French arm by the end of this month. But Egg, which only launched the venture in November 2002, said that those talks were still ongoing and that an announcement on the situation was now likely sometime in the New Year.