13th Mar 2008 07:00
Sports Direct International Plc13 March 2008 13th March 2008 Sports Direct International plc ("the Group" or "the Company") Interim Management Statement Sports Direct International plc announces its Interim Management Statementrelating to the period from 29th October 2007 to 12th March 2008. Trading Update Total Group sales for the 13 weeks ending 27th January 2008 amounted to £317mand the corresponding Group gross profit was £142m. 15 new stores were openedand 13 small stores closed in the quarter. Since 27th January, trading hasremained in line with management's expectations. After the Interim Results, market consensus expectations for underlying EBITDA(pre foreign exchange and exceptional items) for the full year 2007/8 increasedto approximately £148m. The Board is confident of meeting this revised consensusforecast. Business Highlights On 5th February 2008 the Company announced a strategic alliance agreement inChina with ITAT Group Limited ("ITAT") to supply merchandise under a selectionof Sports Direct's portfolio of brands to the larger ITAT stores. ITAT is thelargest network of multi-brand apparel retail chain stores in China, andoperates a network of over 700 stores in 275 cities across the country.Management is pleased that the relationship with ITAT is developing well and theplanned roll out of brands to the stores is currently ahead of schedule. On 18th December 2007 the Company sold its interest in Original Shoe CompanyLimited, the branded clothing and footwear retailer, to JJB Sports plc for £5min cash. An additional share-buy-back programme was approved at the EGM on 19th December2007 to purchase 35,999,999 shares. The Company has since purchased those sharesat a total cost of £38.9m. On 21st December 2007 the Company sold 29m of its shares in Umbro plc to Nikefor £56.1m, and agreed to vote its remaining 14.6m Umbro shares in favour of thescheme of arrangement. The scheme of arrangement became effective on 3rd March2008 and, as a result, the Company will shortly receive 193.06p per share inrespect of its outstanding shares. During the quarter to 27th January 2008 the Group sold down its holding of12.16% in Amer for £117.8m and this was announced to the market in earlyNovember. On 23rd January 2008 the Group announced the acquisition of a 4.96%stake in Amer for a consideration of £36m. Group debt decreased from £795.9m at 28th October 2007 to £555.2m at 27thJanuary 2008. Taking into account the inclusion of marketable securities(available for sale financial assets) the net debt at 27th January 2008 was£396.2m, down from £431.4m at 28th October 2007. A substantial proportion of the Group's imports are paid for in US dollars. Theimpact of currency movements is managed through substantial holdings of currencyand the use of forward fixed-rate currency purchase contracts. At around $2 to£1 the position (net of realised and unrealised gains and losses) is neutral. Commenting on this statement, Dave Forsey, Chief Executive Officer of SportsDirect International plc, said: "Whilst the Company recognises the challenges in the retail market and acrossthe economy as a whole, we have a compelling customer proposition and aresilient business model. We are confident of meeting current marketexpectations and will continue to look for opportunities to grow organically,via acquisitions and through partnerships on a global basis." For further information, please contact: Dave Forsey, Chief Executive T. 0870 333 9400Bob Mellors, Group Finance DirectorSports Direct International plc Jonathon Brill / Ben Foster / Andrew Dowler T. 020 7831 3113Financial Dynamics This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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