Sports Direct International, the U.K. sporting goods retailer, predicted an “increasingly difficult” sales environment over the next six months, but still expects to meet its recent guidance. Sports Direct said gross sales reached £280 million ($545 mm) between October 29 and January 13, generating gross profits of £126 million ($245 mm) – a margin of 45%.
Sports Direct said its view was unchanged on its expectation to exceed the market consensus of EBITDA of £137.7 million ($268 mm), announced in its interim results last month. At the time, Sports Direct admitted its profits in the first half of the financial year had fallen 73%. The English national soccer team's failure to qualify for this summer's European Championship is expected to cost the company millions of Pounds in lost shirt sales.
Dave Forsey, chief executive, said last Monday: “We expect the retail trading environment in the UK to become increasingly difficult over the next six months. However the resilience of our business gives us the confidence to repeat the guidance on full-year performance that we gave on December 19.”
