Member Article

Sports Direct chief exec warns of fallout on Mike Ashley share scheme scrapping

The chief executive of high street sports retailer Sports Direct has warned that a decision by the company’s shareholders not to approve a share scheme to benefit Mike Ashley would result in future “uncertainty.”

As part of a trading update which revealed Group sales rises of 10.3% to £360 million, chief executive Dave Forsey said the board was dissappointed in the actions of large shareholders who gave their support for the scheme to then vote differently.

The firm’s Sports Retail business increased sales by 11% over the nine weeks to the end of March, raising gross profit 14.9% to £120.4 million.

Dave Forsey said: “Sports Retail continues to perform well since the end of January, primarily driven by our on-going focus on exceptional quality, unbeatable value, availability and the continued optimisation of sales between stores and online.

“During the period, the Board was extremely disappointed to withdraw the resolution regarding a proposed share scheme award to Mike Ashley.

“The most disappointing aspect was where large shareholders gave their support only to then vote differently. This outcome is likely to lead to further uncertainty in the future.

“While we retain the ability to invest in margin, inventory and Group marketing to deliver long-term sustainable growth, the Board is very confident of achieving at least our full year internal underlying EBITDA target of £310m, before the charge for the Employee Bonus Share Scheme.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .