7th Oct 2019 11:36
(Alliance News) - Sports Direct International PLC on Monday said it does not plan to shut a large number of House of Fraser stores in the new year.
In response to a press statement initially reported by the Sunday Telegraph, the sportswear retailer said it has entered into new leases with landlords on the majority of House of Fraser stores, the department chain which fell into administration before being rescued by Sports Direct in August 2018.
The Sunday Telegraph piece reported that Sports Direct would shut "almost all House of Fraser stores" after the crucial Christmas shopping season.
The newspaper, after claiming to have seen papers from administrators, reported that seven sites are now empty with Mike Ashley's firm either not paying rent or being on the verge of ending leases for the majority of the remaining ones.
The FTSE 250-listed retailer explained: "Sports Direct has entered into new leases on the majority of House of Fraser stores. The EY report relates to an entirely different company. Sports Direct continues to work with landlords across the whole of the remaining House of Fraser estate.
"As a result of this erroneous misreading of the administrators report from EY, staff across the House of Fraser group have today woken up to a false sense of job insecurity. Sports Direct is working rapidly on our ongoing investment programme with the House of Fraser brand and it is therefore totally incorrect to assume that there will be large numbers of store closures in the new year. We are taking legal advice with regards to this unbelievable level of misreporting."
In July, the company said the problems faced by House of Fraser were "nothing short of terminal in nature".
Sports Direct said in July: "If we had the gift of hindsight we might have made a different decision in August 2018."
Shares in Sports Direct were 1.0% lower at 282.00 pence each in London on Monday.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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