The management of Sports Direct International foresees an increasingly difficult retail environment in the UK over the next six months, but says the “resilience” of its business allows it to stand by the forecast it had made last Dec. 19 for its performance during the financial year through the end of April. The guidance calls for earnings of £137.7 million (€184m-$269m) before amortization, depreciation, foreign exchange conversion and exceptional items.
SDI said it made a gross profit of £126 million (€168m-$246m) on group revenues of £280 million (€374m-$547m) during the 11 weeks ended last Jan. 13, implying a gross margin of 45.05 percent. No comparative figures were provided for the year-ago period, but it seems that the results have declined. According to the prospectus circulated at the time of SDI’s stock market introduction, the company had reached a gross margin of 46.8 percent in the nine weeks ended Dec. 31, 2006.
