Sports Direct profits fall by a third to £145m
PROFITS at Mike Ashley's Sports Direct plunged 33.5% to £145.3 million in the first half of the year.
Sports Direct suffered a blow to its finances in the wake of the EU referendum
The group, which has endured a long list of controversies over the past months, compounded its PR problems by failing to hedge against the fall in the value of the pound in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum.
Sports Direct warned that it expects “strategic challenges and currency headwinds” to continue to adversely affect its financial performance in the medium term.
Mike Ashley said performance was challenging over the last six months
Mr Ashley said: “The last six months have been tough for our people and performance.
The last six months have been tough for our people and performance
"Our UK Sports Retail business continues to be the engine of Sports Direct, but our results have been affected by the significant deterioration in exchange rates, and our assessment of our risk relating to our stock levels and European stores performance.”
What can Sports Direct do next?
Challenges are expected to continue into the future
The company said revenue rose 4.2 per cent to £1.6 billion, but warned of a challenging environment which the firm expects to continue into the “foreseeable future”.
On a pre-tax basis, profits slumped 57% to £71.6 million.