Sports Direct share price sinks after delayed results
Sports Direct International’s (LON:SPD) share price has fallen deep into the red in today’s session as the company posted its full-year results in after-market hours on Friday. The update comes after the company had cautioned earlier this month that it was delaying the publication of its preliminary results, pointing to the integration of the House of Fraser business along with increased regulatory scrutiny.
As of 09:49 BST, Sports Direct’s share price had given up 9.49 percent to 207.40p, underperforming the FTSE 250 index which currently stands 0.42 percent higher at 19,942.31 points. The group’s shares have given up just under 50 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a 4.5-percent fall in the mid-cap benchmark.
Sports Direct issues FY results
Sports Direct published its full-year results on Friday, after the London market had closed, reporting a six-percent fall in underlying EBITDA to £287.8 million in the 52-week period ended April 28. The company said that its revenue had increased 10.2 percent during the reported period, but was down 1.9 percent excluding acquisitions and on a currency-neutral basis.
The mid-cap retailer meanwhile disclosed in the statement that earlier this month, it had received a payment notice from the Belgian tax authorities in the amount of €674 million, and requesting further information in relation to, amongst other things, the tax treatment of goods being moved intra-group throughout the EU via Belgium.
Analysts on sports goods retailer
The Guardian quoted Justin Urquhart Stewart, a fund manager at Seven Investment Management, as commenting that the delayed publication of the results was “frankly a pathetic way to run a business”.
“Mike Ashley doesn’t care about the City [investors] very much. As far as he is concerned, he is used to running a business his way,” he told the BBC’s Wake Up To Money.
Peel Hunt placed the company ‘under review’ today. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘hold’ rating, while the average Sports Direct price target stands at 265p.
