In a preliminary report, Sports Direct International has announced that its sales went up by 10.3 percent in the nine weeks ended March 30, reaching £360 million (€438.85m-$610.70m), while the group's gross profit rose at a higher rate of 11.5 percent to £147.0 million (€179.19m-$249.37m), delivering a gross margin of 40.8 percent. The figures include the results of Republic, which was acquired in February 2013, but not those of Sport Eybl & Sports Experts in Austria or Sportland International in the Baltics, which became part of the group in June and August last year.
Revenues from sports retailing increased by 11.0 percent to £293.3 million (€357.51m-$497.57m), generating a 14.9 percent higher gross profit of £120.4 million (€146.76m-$204.26m), or an improved margin of 41.4 percent.. Dave Forsey, chief executive of the group, attributed the results to an “on-going focus on exceptional quality, unbeatable value, availability and the continued optimisation of sales between stores and online.”
Indicating that Sports Direct suffered similar problems as JD Sports Fashion with its fashion segment, Premium Lifestyle sales increased by only 0.7 percent to £27.1 million (€33.03m-$46.00m) at SDI, and their gross profit declined by 4.1 percent to £9.9 million (€12.07m-$16.80m). The gross margin fell to 36.5 percent.
The group's Brands division, which includes brands such as Dunlop and Karrimor, raised its sales by 12.8 percent to £39.6 million (€48.26m-$67.18m), but its gross profit remained at the previous year's level of £16.7 million (€20.35m-$28.33m). That means a gross margin of only 15.4 percent for this division, where much of the turnover consists of royalties on licensees.
Forsey said the board was very confident of achieving at a minimum its target of underlying Ebitda of £310 million (€377.80m-$526.00m) for the full financial year, which ended on April 27, while retaining the ability to invest in margin, inventory and marketing.
