Sports Direct, the high street sports retailer, has seen group revenue rise 8.4% in the first half, helped by a strong second quarter and significant growth in online sales.
Meanwhile, the firm was able to cut its net debt by 23.2% from the start of the period. It now stands at £114.3m, down from £148.9m at 24 April.
"This strong performance yet again demonstrates the success of our unique and resilient business model, and was delivered against both a tough FIFA World Cup comparison last year and an especially fragile consumer environment," said Chief Executive Dave Forsey.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Revenue totalled £888.6m in the six months ended 23 October, up from £819.9m the year before, with UK Retail contributing nearly £700m of that total. International Retail sales grew 22.3% in the period.
Meanwhile, online revenues jumped 85% to £72m and now represents some 9.5% of total Retail sales, up from a 5.4% contribution last year. "we continue to invest in our customer offering and experience to ensure this continues."
However, group gross margins fell 110 basis points to 41.5% but the firm assured that this was in line with expectations - the prior year margin was unusually high in International Retail as a result of a strong hedged rate for US dollar purchases, it said.
Reported pre-tax profit nudged just 0.3% higher to £100.3m, while the underlying figure fell 1.7% to £99m (this excludes profits/losses relating to the IAS 39 fair value adjustment on forward currency contracts in financing income/costs), as operating costs rose.
The underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax , depreciation and amortisation) figure rose 2% to £139.2m and the group maintained its full-year EBITDA target of £215m (before the costs of its employee bonus share scheme).
No dividend was paid.
BC
-
LendInvest: a promising fintech firm going cheapOpinion LendInvest has made some mistakes in the past, but it’s now primed for growth, says Rupert Hargreaves
-
What caused the Birmingham bin strike – and what does it mean for British businesses?The Birmingham bin strike is the fallout from an equal-pay claim brought by female cleaners. That bodes ill for the rest of British business
