Pre-close Trading Update

RNS Number : 1508R

Sports Direct International Plc

23 October 2013

 



23 October 2013

Sports Direct International plc

Pre-close Trading Update

Sports Direct International plc ("the Group"), the UK's leading sports retailer, today provides an update on current trading in advance of its half year end on 27 October 2013.

Group total sales for the nine weeks ending 29 September 2013 were up 15.1% to £463.7m (FY13: £402.7m) and gross profit was up 19.4% to £199.8m (FY13: £167.4m) ⁽¹⁾.

Sports Retail sales for the same period increased 14.8% to £395.7m (FY13: £344.7m) and Sports Retail gross profit increased 19.7% to £170.9m (FY13: £142.8m)⁽¹⁾.

Premium Lifestyle sales in the period increased 74.9% to £32.0m (FY13: £18.3m) with gross profit increasing 82.9% to £13.9m (FY13: £7.6m)⁽²⁾.

Brands division sales increased 12.9% to £36.0m (FY13: £31.9m) with gross profit increasing 9.5% to £15.0m (FY13: £13.7m) ⁽³⁾.

⁽¹⁾        Sales and gross profit of Sports Eybl and Sports Experts AG, which was acquired on 26 June 2013, and
 Sportland International Group, which was acquired on 12 August 2013, are excluded from these figures.

⁽²⁾        Sales and gross profit of Republic, which was acquired on 28 February 2013, are included in the current
 period figures, but not in the prior period.

⁽³⁾        The prior period figures exclude discontinued wholesale sales and gross profit from Firetrap of £7.8m and
 £3.3m, respectively.

Dave Forsey, Chief Executive of Sports Direct International plc, said:

"As we highlighted this time last year, the London Olympics was followed by an excellent 'back to school' period.  Therefore to continue to produce these numbers, especially within Sports Retail, clearly demonstrates the strength of our business model."

"Since the end of September trading has remained strong and the Board is therefore confident of reaching the full year internal stretch underlying EBITDA target of £310m (before the charge for the Employee Bonus Share Scheme)."

The Company will announce its Interim Results for the 26 weeks ending 27 October 2013 on Thursday 12 December 2013.

For further information, please contact:

Sports Direct International plc Dave Forsey, Chief Executive Bob Mellors, Group Finance Director Jeff Blue, Strategic Development Director	0845 129 9229
FTI Consulting Jonathon Brill Alex Beagley Georgia Mann	0207 831 3113

Notes to Editors

Sports Direct is the UK's leading sports retailer by revenue and operating profit, with approximately 400 stores across the UK.  The Group provides an unrivalled range of products, offering exceptional quality and unbeatable value, from a wide variety of third-party and Group-owned brands, both in-store and online.  Sports Direct operates in 19 countries in Europe, including Belgium, Austria, Slovenia, Portugal and France.

The Group has an extensive brand portfolio, comprising 28 internationally recognised sport, fashion and lifestyle brands including Dunlop, Slazenger, Everlast, Lonsdale and Karrimor.

Sports Direct was founded in 1982, listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

For more information please visit www.sportsdirectplc.com

 

END

 

 

TSTFEIEDEFDSESS